Chapters Story 3: Father to the Griffin
Story three- Father to the Griffin
"Beautiful day,eh?" Diamondshine said, trotting through the forest that surrounded the castle. His companion Toxic sighed.
"Dia, we shouldn't just wonder off. No pony knows where we are. It's very dangerous." The black and green alicorn said disapprovingly.
His unicorn friend flipped and mane and scoffed. "Dangerous? We are both skilled in magic. Any creature would have to be suicidally stupid to attack us."
Toxic shrugged. "I guess you're right." He glanced around the forest. "But really, we shouldn't travel too far. Soon we will arrive in griffin country."
Diamondshine breathed in quickly. "...And that would be suicidally stupid."
A shudder passed through Toxic, ending at his tail tip. "They would eat as alive."
The two stallions continued to walk in silence. For about twenty minutes all was peaceful. Until suddenly, they heard a sharp cry for help.
"What was that?!" Toxic exclaimed, looking around him for the source.
Diamondshine pointed his horn east. "I think it came from there."
Silently but stealthily, the two stallions crept towards the noise. Toxic signaled at a bush, and he and Diamondshine both crawled into it.
Toxic opened his mouth to say something, but Diamondshine was quick to cover it. They stared at the horrifying sight in front of them in shock.
A griffin cub was being attacked by two adult dragons! The dragons played with the cub like a cat with a mouse, batting her up in the air then letting her run away a bit before attacking her again. A small stream of blood dripped down the griffin's head as she desperately tried to get away.
"Dia, we can't let them kill that griffin!" Toxic hissed silently.
Diamondshine looked flustered. "What can we do against two full grown dragons?!" He said back.
Toxic's shoulders slumped as the cry of the little griffin reached his ears. "Just...something!" He said, gritting his teeth. Magic flared at his horn as Toxic stepped out of the bushes. Instantly, the dragons turned to look at the alicorn.
"Oh, look a pony." One of the dragons sneered, the griffin hanging from his claws.
"Drop the cub and no pony gets hurt."
The other dragon threw up his paws, a look of faux horror on his face.
"Oh no! He's attacking us with overused stock phrases!"
Toxic was not amused. His eyes flashed completely green with power and magic blasted from his horn in wavelengths. The surrounding trees and shrubs died in response to the poisonous magic. The two dragons were thrown back, letting the griffin cub fall to the ground.
"What-what was that?!" One of the dragons cried. They both quickly pulled themselves off the ground and ran away, their feet crunching on dead leaves.
Diamondshine emerged from the now dead foliage, jaw practically on the ground. "Toxic," he said, "what did you do?!"
Toxic stuck his head down. "My talent is poison." He said simply, nodding at his cutie mark, a skull and cross bones.
"So that was a taste of alicorn power..." Diamondshine said cryptically.
Toxic shook his head. "No,no,no. It's not like that....I'm not the powerhouse you think I am." He swayed. "And I probably shouldn't have done that powerful spell...."
Diamondshine was quick to support his friend. Toxic leaned on him for a couple seconds, then recovered.
"Who are you?" A young voice squeaked out.
Toxic and Diamondshine both turned their heads toward the little griffin.
"I'm Toxic," he looks at Diamonshine, "and this is Diamondshine."
The unicorn smiled. "You can call me Dia."
Toxic approached the griffin. "What's your name?" He said gently.
The griffin shuffled nervously. "I'm....Kidka." She said.
Toxic sat in front of Kidka. "Well, Kidka, where are your parents?"
The griffin started to cry. "I don't know.....I got separated from them...."
Toxic felt a twang of pity and wrapped his wing around the cub.
"Dia, we can't just leave Kidka. We should take care of her until we find her parents!"
Diamonshine,however, was less jubilant. "Toxic, I understand your reasoning, but we can't do that." He said. "If the griffin's parents do find their child, I can assure you they won't welcome us with open arms. The griffins will think we stole Kidka and attack. I'm sorry, but as you said earlier, messing with griffins is suicidally stupid."
Toxic bit his lip. Diamonshine was right, he couldn't care for the cub. But, leaving her out on her own would be even worse.
Toxic leaned down and rubbed some blood off of the griffin's face. To his surprise, Kidka licked his hoof and smiled.
"Toxic!" She said rather cutely.
Toxic took a deep breath and looked sternly Diamondshine.
"Dia, I am going to find this cub's parents. Whether you come with me or not, that is your choice."
Diamondshine sighed. "I hate to do this, but I won't go. When you get back, I will be at the castle, with Silverfox." The unicorn cast one last glance at Toxic, then trotted off.
Toxic was too shocked to move. Diamondshine had actually left him. In silence, he watched his friend's form disappear.
"Where did Dia go?" Kidka asked, tugging on his wing.
Toxic swallowed. "He....he went away. It's just you and me now."
Kidka frowned, then suddenly swayed, exhaustion taking her over. The griffin fell at his hoofs.
The alicorn looked awkward, the realization that he had no idea how to care for a cub hitting him hard. Thinking fast, Toxic put the griffin on his back and rushed into the forest. While running, he tried to coo Kidka with cheerful words and a soft voice. His only reply was a tired moan.
Soon, Toxic arrived at his destination- the river. He gently dropped Kidka on the grass on the bank. Bitting off a bit of fabric from his cloak, Toxic soaked it in water. He quickly brought the wet cloth to Kidka and sat it on her forehead. Toxic wasn't sure if she even had a fever, but the cool water bring her to, he reasoned.
He was correct. Kidka opened her eyes and blinked a couple times.
Toxic sighed with relief. "Oh good, you're awake." He murmured.
The griffin stumbled up and looked around. Suddenly, her stomach grumbled. She let out a little giggle.
"You're hungry,eh?" Toxic said. "What do you want? Some kind of flowers?"
The griffin frowned.
"Right,right..." He said. "Griffins are meat-eaters, correct?"
Kidka jumped for joy. "Squirrel! I want a squirrel!" She squeaked.
Toxic looked utterly confused. How could he hunt a living creature? For Kidka, he said to himself, for Kidka.
"Okay, I need you to stay here and don't move." Toxic said firmly, backing up into the forest, still watching Kidka. When he saw the griffin wasn't moving, he finally turned around and trotted off deeper into the forest.
Toxic went over his plan. First, he would find the squirrel. Then, he was going to simply pick it up with magic. Lastly, he would give it to Kidka, letting her kill it and eat it. Of course, during this last step, he would be turned around.
Sharply watching the trees, Toxic spotted a squirrel. He quickly levitated it to him, the little animal squirming in the magic. Satisfied, Toxic strutted back to the river, only to drop the prey when he saw the horrifying sight.
Kidka was playing in the river!
"Kidka!" He said sharply, "Get out of there!"
The griffin looked at him, surprised. She tried to wade back to the bank, only to slip on a rock and fall on the river with a yelp.
Toxic screamed in fright and plunged in after her. The cold water soaked him to the skin, but this didn't matter to Toxic. He had to get Kidka back. Ponies were naturally good swimmers, so getting her wasn't a problem. The problem was that griffins weren't good swimmers. Kidka struggled and kick wildly as Toxic tried to pull her on his back. He finally succeeded in this, Kidka was now clinging on his back, digging her claws into him a bit harder for comfort. But it was far from over. When Toxic heard the telltale roar of water up ahead he let out a groan. Please don't let there be waterfall, he prayed silently.
Sadly, Toxic's feeble prayer could not bypass the laws of fiction. The rough current came into sight quickly, and he braised himself.
"HOLD ON!" Toxic screamed over the roar of water. Kidka understood and clung tightly to his back. Right as they fell over the falls, Toxic took flight. The alicorn went directly towards the bottom of the falls, on the bank, where he saw a small cave. Toxic struggles in the air, mostly because of his extra passenger and the weight added by them both being soaking wet. He finally crash landed in the cave floor, hitting his side. Kidka crawled off his back and touched him with a claw.
"Toxic? Are you okay?" Kidka said, cocking her head.
Toxic didn't answer, he just lay panting, trying to catch his breath. The entire stress of fighting off the dragons, arguing with Diamondshine, and the river accident weighed down on him all at once. He pitifully coughed up a bit of water and half-closed his eyes.
Through his dazed state, Toxic saw Kidka walk to the corner of the cave, plucking something from the ground and dropping it in front of him.
It was a blade of grass.
"Pony feed!" She squeaked happily.
Toxic smiled and nibbled on the grass. It was dry and wasn't even close to solving his problems, but it was the though that counts.
~
"Ellar, come back over here!" Radar exclaimed, fluttering over the blind pegasus. Embane had requested that he take Ellar for a bit of fresh air, so Radar was chaperoning the seer through the forest. However, this activity was....harder than expect.
Radar cast his glance at Ellar, who was sniffing a flower. He groaned. This was the worst command ever! Radar wasn't even aloud to fly free and fast! He had to foalsit nearly grown stallion.
Radar did a double take at Ellar. That flower he was smelling was poisonous! He let out a dramatic cry as Ellar opened his mouth to nibble on the toxic flora. Thinking fast, Radar swiftly bit the seer's scraggly red tail and jerked him back.
"No! We don't eat the poisonous flowers!" Radar scolded.
But Radar's upbraid had gone over Ellar's head. The pegasus sat on his haunches, his eyes completely glazed over. Radar trotted to him curiously, waving his hoof in font of Ellar's face.
"Heeellllooooo?" He questioned.
Ellar suddenly jerked awake.
"They're coming!" He screamed, clinging to Radar, shaking furiously.
"What are you talking about?" Radar exclaimed, trying to pry off the quivering seer.
Before he could answer, Radar's wing twitched. His special sense! What his namesake was! Radar slapped his hoof over Ellar's mouth and searched the area.
"Whoever you are, come out now!" Radar hissed.
Diamonshine trotted out of the bushes. The unicorn sighed, shaking leaves out of his mane. "Calm down, Radar. It's just me."
The pegasus relaxed, letting Ellar go. The seer flopped to the ground but quickly recovered himself.
Diamondshine looked confused. "Have you seen Toxic? We had sort of a disagreement, and now I can't find him!"
Radar and Ellar shrugged. "We haven't seen him." Ellar said, not realizing the irony of him saying that.
Diamondshine sighed. "Alright....I'll keep looking."
Shoulders slumping, Diamonshine trotted back into the forest.
"We should get back to the castle." Radar said, taking flight. Ellar nodded and flew after him.
~
"They must have been here!" Diamondshine exclaimed, nosing one of Toxic's feathers.
He had followed Toxic's scent to the river. But the trail abruptly stopped there. He had briefly followed another trail that led into the woods, but it had doubled back around to this spot. He saw some hoof prints in the mud on the bank, which noted that Kidka was with him as well.
Slowly, the realization hit him. Those prints led into the river. Toxic and Kidka must have fallen into the river!
Chest heaving, Diamondshine followed the river along the bank. He let out a cry when he saw the waterfall. Diamondshine hung his head in grief.
Then it hit him, Toxic could fly! Maybe he was at the bottom of the falls, completely safe....or something could have kept him from flying, and his and Kidka's broken bodies were lying at the bottom of the crashing water. Diamondshine tried to forget about the latter.
Searching for a alternate way down, Diamondshine spotted a scrawny rock path parallel to falls. The unicorn carefully stepped from slick rock to the next, still panting. Suddenly, the rock under his hoof crumbled, and he flatted himself against the rock wall as half the ledge he was standing on fell to the ground. Eventually, Diamondshine reached the bottom and he immediately started to search the area.
"Toxic?" He yelled, "Toxic, you there?"
"Dia!" Squeaked a familiar voice. Diamondshine turned to see Kidka. The griffin was standing outside of a small cave, trying to usher him in.
Hopefully Toxic is there too, he thought to himself, walking towards the cave. When he arrived he saw Toxic slumped on the ground, unconscious.
"You're alive!" Diamondshine exclaimed, nuzzling his friend and laying down beside him.
Toxic barely opened his eyes and smiled.
"I guess I messed up pretty bad, huh?" The alicorn said weakly.
Diamondshine cuffed him teasingly.
"Yeah, falling off a cliff and such."
"Hey Dia?" Toxic said. "I'm pretty tired right now....so you think you can let me sleep?" He said with a bit of a laugh.
Diamondshine nodded and gazed at the now setting sun. "Hey Kidka." He called to the griffin, who was playing at the mouth of the cave. "Would you like to come and sleep with us?"
Kidka nodded gleefully and climbed between the two unicorns, instantly warmed by the combined bodies' heat. And so, the three slept there- forgetting about everything else, just happy to have some pony to sleep with.
The next morning, Diamondshine noticed that Kidka was no longer between them. A responsible pony would have looked for her, but Diamondshine, still in a sleepy daze, just mentally shrugged and closed his eyes, hoping to sleep a bit more.
"Yay! Mommy is here!" He heard her squeak, and he was instantly awake.
"Toxic!" He whispered, nudging his friend's side.
Both friends looked in horror as they saw a full griffin hunting party- with the alpha female in the lead. The fearsome creatures landed in the mouth of the cave, snarling and growling. The alpha female stepped forward, thrusting her face in front of Toxic and Diamondshine.
"What are you doing with my child?!" She roared.
Toxic looked nervous. "We,um, found her,uh, the forest. She needed some, um, care."
Kidka jumped up and down. "It was so fun! We fell off a cliff!"
The alpha griffin looked unamused. "What?"
Toxic's legs shook. "We fell in the river....then the waterfall. But, I flew us out before it got bad."
The alpha griffin glared at the two quivering ponies and gritted her fangs. After a frightening minute or two, she spoke.
"You are lucky I am in a good mood. I will let you live only because my cub is safe. Now go before I change my mind." The large griffin grabbed Kidka by the scruff, and turned around. Before the hunting party left, Kidka waved her paws wildly.
"Byyyeeeee Toxic! Byyyeeeee Dia!" She squeaked out.
Quickly, the griffins were gone. Relived, Toxic hung his head down.
Diamondshine patted him on the shoulder. "Well, crisis averted, huh?"
The alicorn nodded his head. "I'm ready to get back to the castle. I haven't seen Silverfox or Catfight since yesterday. Mother and Father are probably worried about me,too."
Diamondshine stretched and shook his mane. "I haven't taken a bath for awhile. I feel dirty."
And so, the two stallions trotted back to the castle, where they were met with relief they were back.
End of Story Three
Story 4: The New Pony Movement
Story Four- The New Pony Movement
Silverfox quickly grabbed her scrolls and papers and ran out the door of her room. She was writing a splendid story- it was about a courageous and strikingly beautiful unicorn who instantly ascended to princess-hood with the awesome power of her literature skills. She stopped in mid-run. Her Mary Sue senses were tingling. Silverfox groaned and walked back to her room, burning the manuscript. Well, she thought, time go to go back to the basics. Her Heartcraftian horror stories were always great.
Slightly disappointed, Silverfox continued her quest to the market place, writing as she walked.
"'And when I gazed upon the horrible beast, I felt my own sanity fading away like evanescent moonlight...'" Silverfox said, saying the words she was scribbling down.
"'Darkness enveloped my inner being-OUCH!" Silverfox shouted, interrupted when a pony ran into her. Silverfox quickly found she had run into a foal, followed by Toxic.
"Toxic!" Silverfox snapped. "What are you doing with that foal?!"
Toxic smiled and patted the frowning brown foal with his hoof.
"I was just showing Dusty around the palace. Isn't he adorable!" Toxic exclaimed happily.
Silverfox growled and picked up her papers and scrolls. "No! Not when they run into me and interrupt my creative spirit!"
"What do you do? Are you a noble?" Dusty asked, the little pegasus foal finally speaking.
Toxic urged her on. "Go on, answer him."
Silverfox frowned. I guess Toxic is right, she thought, Dusty is kinda cute. "No, I am not a noble. But I do work, I answer and read letters."
"But that's not work. So you just freeload?" Dusty remarked.
Silverfox's mouth gaped. That one spark of feeling she felt for the foal was lost. "Why you little-!" She snapped, walking off.
"Hey Silverfox! Come back! Please?" Toxic shouted, running after her. Dusty stayed in one place, not sure what had set the grey unicorn off.
Silverfox sighed. "I'm fine. I just want to go to the market place and get something sweet."
Toxic shrugged. "Alright...I'll see you later, okay?"
Silverfox nodded and smiled, walking to the palace door. She opened it and was about to walk through, when Silverfox heard Cupcake yelling for her.
"Silverfoooooox!" The chef shouted, running towards her.
Silverfox stood still, waiting for the creamy colored earth pony to reach her. Cupcake finally stopped in front of her, panting.
"Where....are....you...going?" She wheezed out.
Silverfox frowned. "Uh....The market?"
Cupcake brightened up. "Wonderful! I mean....sounds fun!"
"You want to come, that's what you're saying, right?"
The earth pony wildly shook her head. "Nononononono! I have to,uh, cook! Duh!" Leaving Silverfox confused on what just happened, Cupcake pranced off.
The grey unicorn shrugged and walked out the large front door, focusing on her writing.
Not breaking her eyes from the papers, Silverfox ordered a apple coated in some sort of sweet icing. Hey, at least it was half way healthy.
Finding a nice sunny place to sit, she rested and continued to write. The sun on her face felt nice as she munched on her apple.
About thirty minutes later, Silverfox decided it was best to take a walk and stretch her legs. Finishing her apple, Silverfox stretched her back and started her walk around her home town of Eclipse, the town that housed the palace. It was oddly quiet and empty.
Silverfox was deep in her thoughts and was barely paying attention when she heard the shrill cry of a hawk. Alert, she searched the skies above her, looking for the majestic bird.
However, before she could even react, a cloth was pressed over her mouth. It smelled disgustingly strong, and Silverfox's consciousness started to fade. The unicorn never saw her attacker and quickly collapsed to the ground.
~
"Scout! We need to hurry! He's gonna bleed out!" Twistedcloud cried, struggling to hold the wounded body of Radar.
Scout nodded, fluttering over Radar.
"Hang in there! We're taking you to the palace to get you fixed up!" He said, trying to rouse his leader.Radar barely opened his eyes.
Some of the Wingblasts had came with them, but the others had stayed at the battle ground.
After a few excruciating minutes, Scout, Twistedcloud, and the other Wingblasts arrived at the palace.
The pegasus laid Radar's body on the hard floor and cried out for Cross. A guard noticed the emergency and ran up to the doctor unicorn's room.
Cross made his way into the room with haste, calling out orders. "You," he pointed at Scout, "take him into my room! I can't treat him here."
Scout nodded and picked up Radar, following Cross, who was already running to his room.
Luckily, they made it just in time. Scout laid him on Cross's bed and the doctor immediately began his work. About ten minutes later, it was all over. Cross looked at Scout, head down. "You can go get that mare you were with and bring her in here. She might want to see her boss."
"Yes sir!" Scout said, zooming out the door.
Quickly, Twistedcloud was brought in.
"Is he going to be alright?!" Twistedcloud asked, gazing at her unconscious leader.
"He is going to make a full recovery. It was just a pretty large gash stretching down his torso." Cross informed her.
Twistedcloud smiled. Suddenly, as if she remembered something, she elbowed Scout.
"We gotta go check on the other troops!" She exclaimed.
"Oh yeah!" Scout shouted.
Like a whirlwind, the two pegasi were out of the window.
Cross groaned, trying to retrieve papers the wind stirred. Satisfied he caught all of them, he trotted over to Radar. Patting him on the shoulder softly, he muttered, "Just what did this to you?"
~
Silverfox groaned and opened one eye, taking in her surroundings. It was a plain concrete room lit by a single bulb. In the corner of the room, there was a mass of shadows, unlighted by the light bulb. Silverfox noticed that she was also chained to the wall, a restraint on each hoof and something on her horn.
"Have a good sleep, Silverfox?" A voice said.
Silverfox's head snapped to alert as an orange earth pony strutted out of the shadows. He was muscular, with striking eyes and a scar that stretched across his face. But what her eyes were drawn to was the weapon strapped to his back. It was a hammer, with a steel plate on the end to ensure massive hurt. Silverfox could have swore she saw blood flecked on it.
"How do you know my name?!" The unicorn growled struggling, causing the metal to clink.
The stallion placed a hoof on her mouth and smiled. "I know a lot of things, Silverfox. I know you live in the palace, sort through mail, and enjoy sweet things."
Silverfox glared and bit the stallion's hoof. "Who are you?!" She screamed.
The stallion's calm manner did not wave. "My name is Thunderbird, but please, I think you are much more interesting."
"Are you the one that knocked me out?" She asked, the angry edge still in her voice.
Thunderbird shook his head. "No, no. That was my brother's work. I simply requested that it be done. You will be a valuable addition to my group."
Silverfox paused. "Group?"
Thunderbird laughed, there was no malice or cruelness, just a honest happy laugh. "Yes. I call it The New Pony Movement."
"What...what is that?"
"It's a simply rebellion." Thunderbird said, walking towards her. "My friends and I overthrow the rulers and take over Eclipse for ourselves."
Silverfox's eyes widened. "What?! You're insane! I'll never join you!"
Thunderbird frowned and lowered his head. "Alright....Windbreaker, give me the whip."
A pegasus trotted out of the shadowy area. She was a sky blue with a white mane, and had a short pony whip in her mouth.
"Ohhh so she is resisting?" Windbreaker giggled wildly. "Can I do it?"
Thunderbird shrugged. "Go on, just keep her alive."
The pegasus fluttered over to Silverfox, eyes crazed. "Do you know what flogging means?"
The unicorn had a nervous look in her eyes as she spoke. "Flogging- verb, means to whip somepony as punishment or torture."
Windbreaker cackled. "Wonderful! You are smart, just like Cupcake said!"
Silverfox choked. "Cupcake?"
Thunderbird came up beside Windbreaker. "Yes," he said calmly. "You really think I would attempt to rebel against the royals if I didn't have an 'eye on the inside'"
Her breathing suddenly went slack. That's what that little wretch was so interested where I was going, Silverfox thought.
Windbreaker cracked the whip in the air, hitting dangerously near the unicorn's face. "Get ready to taste the lash, resister!" The pegasus yelled raising the whip in her mouth.
Silverfox screamed in pain as the thin leather cut across her fur, right on her chest. She barely had time to see the bleeding wound before Windbreaker lashed her again, this time right on the cheek. Tears sprang to her eyes and blurred her vision. Windbreaker was clearly having fun, she was laughing madly while lashing random parts of Silverfox's body. Blood dripped on the floor as the unicorn screamed and withered in pain, but Windbreaker didn't let up. She continued at lash Silverfox, this time in a short, fast burst.
"Alright, Winderbreaker. That's enough. She is already pretty hurt." Thunderbird said, pushing the mad torturer out of the way.
The stallion looked into Silverfox's eyes. The mare did not return his gaze, her eyes were blurred with pain and was gasping for breath.
"Icebird, please come in here." Thunderbird said simply.
A dark blue unicorn walked out of the shadows, followed by an earth pony.
The unicorn stallion, Icebird, held a potion with his magic.
"Well, Silverfox, meet my brother." Thunderbird said, nodding his head at the stallion.
Silverfox glared through the pain. "So you're the one that knocked me out." She snarled, trying to look fearsome despite bleeding from various wounds.
Icebird shrugged. "It wasn't hard, I just used a rag with a combination of herds and made you breath in the scent. It knocked you out cleanly and safely."
The earth pony mare behind Icebird spoke. "Can't we just lock her up again? We have work to do."
Thunderbird looked at her. "Calm down, Elven. We have the potion with us now. Icebird, go on and feed it to our guest."
Silverfox yelled and struggled in the restraints as the blue unicorn came towards her. Windbreaker came to his side and pried open her mouth. As Icebird started to pour the concoction in Silverfox's mouth, she spit it out and choked on it, refusing to swallow.
Icebird stopped pouring and looked at Windbreaker. The pegasus smiled madly and suddenly punched Silverfox in the gut, causing her to suck in air and gasp for breath.
Icebird quickly drained the rest of the potion down Silverfox's throat while she fighting for air.
Immediately, she felt the effects. A cool sensation spread through her body and Silverfox's eyes dropped. She desperately tried to stay awake, but to no avail. The world blurred as she finally gave up the fight and fell asleep.
~
"Hey Silverfox! Silverfox!" Catfight said, calling for her friend.
Diamondshine shrugged. "I don't think she's here."
Behind them, Toxic searched relentlessly. He scoured every edge of the market, but he couldn't find her.
Catfight looked at the worried alicorn and smiled. "I'll look for her in the skies. That will do, right?"
Toxic nodded.
Catfight took flight, scanning the ground. When the search was clearly obsolete, she landed in front of her friends.
"I couldn't see her. Maybe we should ask around?" Catfight said, trying to give Toxic some hope.
The three friends trotted around the market, listing Silverfox's description to every pony they could get a hold of.
"You're talking about a grey unicorn mare, right?" A voice called behind them.
Toxic spun on his heels to see a brown stallion with an apron tied around him.
"Um...yes?" Toxic said.
"She came to my store earlier today." He said simply.
The three brightened up. "Really?!" Catfight said, jumping in.
"Yup. Ordered a frosted apple. She went and sat down around here, in a sunny spot."
Toxic looked excited. "Where did she go after that?"
The stallion shrugged. "The empty part of town. I didn't see her come back after she walked away." The stallion looked behind him. "I better be going. Gotta earn a living. I hope I helped." He walked away.
"Thank you!" Toxic, Diamondshine, and Catfight called to him.
Catfight looked at her group, excited. "Well, I guess now we know where to look next."
The trio ventured to the spoken of place. However, Silverfox was not there.
Toxic slumped his head down. "Aw crap."
Diamondshine trotted in front of the discouraged alicorn.
"Don't worry, Toxic. We can still look for clues, right Catfight?" He said, nodding at his friend.
Catfight stuck a smile on her face.
"Right. It's not like she dropped off the face of the planet."
~
Radar slowly opened his eyes and glanced around the room. Why was he in Cross's bed? Stretching and moving his legs, Radar quickly realized why as pain shot up his body. There was a large wound going up his torso, covered in bandages.
Hoping to settle down the pain, Radar gritted his teeth and stopped moving.
Radar's ears twitched and he was on alert. Some pony was coming! As the wooden door creaked open, he prepared to fight, despite the injury.
To his relief, it was only Cross. The white unicorn trotted to Radar's side and sat down.
"I see you have awoken." Cross said cooly.
"Yeah." Radar said, angling his head so he could look at Cross.
"How are you feeling?" The unicorn asked.
Radar groaned. "Pretty bad. If I even my move body, it hurts."
Cross shrugged. "It's to be expected." Cross now looked more serious than ever. He leaned in on Radar, inches away from his muzzle. "What were you attacked by?" He asked.
Radar sucked in a breath. "I was flying with my team, doing routine exercises and such. When we landed to take a breather, we were met with like twenty ponies, all armed. I told my team to get ready to fight, and the mysterious ponies attacked. We were doing pretty good, mind you, but then I saw a pegasus about to cleave Twistedcloud open with a hatchet. I couldn't let it happen, so I jumped in front of her, taking the brunt of the attack." Radar lowered his eyes. "I guess I didn't think about the consequences. Before I knew it, I was lying in a puddle of the own blood. I managed to tell Scout, my right hoof stallion, not to retreat before everything went blurry. I felt a slight sensation of being carried, but that's about it."
Cross nodded his head, taking in the information.
"You are going to have to stay here for a few days, I hope you are aware of." Cross said, standing up and starting to sort through herbs and medicines. "I didn't want to frighten Scout and Twistedcloud, so I told them that your wound wasn't that serious."
Radar sighed. "It's for the best." The pegasus yawned a bit. "I think I'm gonna take a little nap for a while."
Cross nodded. "I will check on you every few minutes or so."
~
Silverfox slowly opened her eyes, eventually coming to. She was in a hard stone cell, with iron bars working as a door. Silverfox found she couldn't get up, whatever potion they had fed her was still coursing through her body.
The sharp sound of hoof steps coming down the stone hallway in front of her cell made Silverfox come to alert. When the stranger came into view, Silverfox groaned.
It was Thunderbird.
The stallion stopped in front of her cell, an odd necklace hanging from his muscular neck.
"Greetings Silverfox. How are you doing?" He said cooly.
"About as well as the last time knocked me out." She said snarkily, flicking her tail when she saw Thunderbird's eyes on the various scabs and wounds on her body.
"Ah, yes. Sorry about that." The stallion said, bowing his head a bit. "I'm afraid it was necessary. Windbreaker can be a bit....cruel when it comes to events like those, but we needed you to be in fear of us." He paused when Silverfox growled. "But I now realize that will not work. So, Silverfox, hear me out now. Will you listen to my proposition?"
Silverfox shrugged. "I haven't got anything else to do."
Thunderbird began: "When I said I wanted to overthrow our rulers, I wanted to bring fairness to all of Equestria." He leaned in, the odd green necklace's stone seemingly swirling. Silverfox shook, trying to clear her head. "Is it really fair to every other pony that only alicorns rule? Where is the justice in that? Silverfox, it simply divides us. Would you think it was crazy if an earth pony came to rule?"
Silverfox shook her head dumbly, her eyes locked on Thunderbird's necklace.
"See?!" Thunderbird said passionately, a quiver going up his body. "Of all the species, earth ponies are looked down on the most! We have no special powers, not magic nor flight. Earth ponies are simply 'there' for the rest of Equestria!"
Managing to break her eyes off his mysterious trinket, Silverfox asked: "What does that have to do with the way our leadership is going?"
"Everything." Thunderbird said. "I plan to have a council, multiple leaders of all species, all with the same amount of power. When trouble arrives, we can hold meetings to decide on what to do, and take votes! It will be wonderful! And fair! Silverfox, if you take my offer and join the New Pony Movement, I will make you representative of the unicorns, right next to my brother."
Silverfox allowed a small smile to her lips. She couldn't believe she was thinking this, but Thunderbird was right. Why did Equestria need one or two supreme rulers of only one species? She had always though ruling Equestria would be amazing, and with every other kind of pony, it would be awesome! Staring into Thunderbird's necklace only made her more giddy to tell him her answer.
"I'll join you, Thunderbird. The New Pony Movement will be great." Silverfox said.
~
Still grinning from his meeting with Silverfox, Thunderbird trotted down the great hallways of his underground lair. It was built under a store in the market, belonging to one of his generals.
"Everypony get ready! When you have gathered your weapons, march towards the exit!" Thunderbird commanded, the smile dissolving into his usual stoic mask.
Icebird trotted to his brother's side, his staff attracted to his flank.
"Everything is going great, brother. Once we take the castle, Equestria will be ours." The unicorn said coolly.
"Yes," Thunderbird murmured. "I even managed to...'convince' the unicorn we captured to join us."
Icebird laughed darkly. "I thought that necklace would work."
An earth pony approached Thunderbird, bowing deeply.
"Sir, the troops have assembled. Shall we begin?"
Thunderbird nodded. "Yes, Iron. I will stay here, though." The earth pony turned. "Elven! Stay in the base with me!" He turned his attention to his brother. "Icebird, lead the army. You know what to do."
Icebird's eyes narrowed and he nodded.
~
"Oh, did you say you were looking for a mare called Silverfox?"
Toxic, Catfight, and Diamondshine all turned their heads toward the direction of the speaker.
A limber earth pony mare strutted to them.
Toxic nodded rapidly. "Yes ma'am! Have you seen her?!"
The mare smiled, her leaf-green mane falling around her shoulder blades. "Of course. I know where she is, too. Come with me."
Toxic jerked his head in her direction, instructing his friends to follow him.
The mare trotted off slowly, allowing the other ponies the follow her.
She led them to a run down shop made of tin, with a flimsy door that said "KEEP OUT".
"Silverfox is....here?" Catfight questioned, frowning at the sorry shop. "If I know her, she wouldn't even spit at this thing."
"Catfight!" Toxic reprimanded, "This nice mare is showing us where our missing friend is! Give her and her store some respect!"
The mare laughed. "No, no. This isn't my store. An acquaintance of mine owns it, though." She opened the "KEEP OUT" door with her hoof. "Come with me." She purred.
Looking slightly confused, Toxic walked in, followed by Diamondshine and Catfight.
The door led to a long set of concrete stairs, sparsely lit. As they ventured down, Toxic found the stairs led to a deep, basement. The mare continued to trot farther into the basement, not noticing that Catfight was visibly uncomfortable.
"Toxic!" Catfight whispered, her wings shuddering. "Can I wait outside? I'm getting a bit claustrophobic."
"There will be no need for that." The mare said a bit testily. "You all need to be down here."
Catfight groaned and spaced herself from the other as she walked.
After what seemed like twenty minutes, the mare stopped at a simple wooden door.
"We are here." The earth pony said mysteriously, opening the door.
The room inside was was simple- concrete, like the rest of the place, with a small set of table and chairs. In those chairs, sat Thunderbird.
"Ah, Elven. You brought our guests." The orange earth pony murmured.
Toxic's eyes narrowed. "Where's Silverfox?"
Elven snickered. "Your friend is...unable to see you right now."
Thunderbird smiled too, as if it was some kind of inside joke.
Toxic suddenly exploded, attempting to lunged at the muscular earth pony, only to be roughly held back by Catfight and Diamondshine.
"What have you done to her?! I'll kill you!" Toxic's screamed, his voice echoing around the small room.
"Elven, please take off angry guest's cloak off. I want to see what he is hiding." Thunderbird said quietly.
Elven grinned, tackling Toxic, managing to rip his cloak off, revealing his wings.
"Ah. A royal pony. Bow, Elven, we are clearly in the presence of royalty." Thunderbird said mockingly, leaping from his chair.
"Who are you?!" Catfight suddenly snarled, approaching him.
"Wouldn't be so rash, dear." Thunderbird murmured. "You need to show more respect to us. We are stronger than you think."
The earth pony nodded to Elven, and the mare trotted to the dark side of the room and jerked on the lights. There sat two frightened pegasi, blinking to get used to the sudden change in lighting- Scout and Twistedcloud. The Wingblasts were bound, with restraints around there snouts, legs, and wings.
"Those are some Wingblasts!" Catfight exclaimed. "I have seen them around before!"
"These rebels decided to fight against us, trying to stop our advances. The New Pony Movement can't be stopped. Your little unicorn friend learned this. But don't look so worried. She is safe, we have tended to her wounds. Silverfox has simply gotten some sense knocked into her." Thunderbird said, stroking Twistedcloud's tattered mane with his hoof.
Elven smirked. "Should we teach these prisoners a lesson? How strong we truly are?! I want to see the fear in their eyes."
Thunderbird steadied his cold gaze on Twistedcloud. With a swift movement, he reached for the hammer strapped to his back and effortlessly smashed the pegasus's head open. Blood and other disgusting things splattered all over the floor and coating Scout, who silently screamed through his bounds.
Toxic gaped when bits of gore touched his face, horrified by the brutal murder he had just witnessed. Catfight stumbled back into Diamondshine, stomach churning.
"W-Why did you do that?" Toxic whispered, unable to avert his eyes from the grisly scene.
Thunderbird smiled, obviously unfazed. "As I said before, that pegasus was a rebel. We have no use for rebels." He ear twitched, aware of the sound of Scout loudly sobbing. "Will you shut up?! Just get over it! Do you want me to kill you too?!" He said savagely, holding the blood-soaked hammer to the pegasus's neck,who sobbed something incoherent.
Thunderbird groaned. "I have better things to do. Elven, leave the prisoners here. I'll send a little guest here." He murmured, placing the hammer back on the strap between his shoulder blades.
The two earth ponies left the room.
"What...was...that?" Diamondshine panted, looking rather queasy.
Toxic backed away to the other end of the room, nudging his friends along with him. With one fleeting glance, he saw Scout, still blood covered and hysterical, shivering in the corner.
"Scout?" He whispered. "Do you want to come over here with us?"
The pegasus nodded, his black mane falling into his eyes. He shakily stood up, hoofs trotting in blood, and collapsed next to Toxic. Toxic gently wrapped his wing around his and started cutting the bounds on him.
"What did he mean by 'little guest'?" Catfight said, also shuddering with fear.
They were soon answered. Toxic heard the sound of hoofs on concrete and the door opened. It was Silverfox!
"Silverfox!" Toxic exclaimed, suddenly hugging the unicorn.
Silverfox's oddly stoic face turned into one of disgust. She shoved him off, sending the alicorn slamming into te ground.
"Wha-" Toxic said.
"What are you doing?! Who are you?" She snarled, raising a hoof and stepping back.
"Silly Silver!" Catfight said jokingly. "Toxic's like your brother!"
Silverfox glared at Catfight. "Who do you think you are? How do you guys know my name?!"
Diamondshine stepped in. "Silverfox? What are you talking about? We are your best friends."
"I don't know any of you."
Toxic stepped back in shock, wings folding right against his body. "But-But-"
Magic flared at the unicorn's horn. "Thunderbird said I needed to take care of some prisoners. Are you the ponies?" She glanced at the back of the room. "I guess he took care of at least one of you." She sighed. "Isn't he amazing?" Silverfox shook her head. "Right, gotta kill you."
With a suddenly flash of grey fur, Silverfox and Toxic locked horns.
"You guys stay back! This is my fight. I will snap her out of whatever that earth pony did to her!" Toxic exclaimed, gritting his teeth.
Toxic dodged a beam of black-colored magic and kick out with his back legs.
Silverfox growled and slugged the alicorn with hoof, sending him flying back. Toxic quickly found his footing and send a powerful spell slamming into the unicorn. Silverfox hit the door and slid back. She didn't stir.
Toxic trotted to the limp mare, putting his horn to her throat.
"Silverfox. Speak to me." He murmured.
Silverfox let out a groan and her eyes half opened. "T-Toxic....?"
All the ponies in the room- with the exception of Scout, who wasn't sure what was happening- sighed with relief.
Silverfox's eyes widened. "Thunderbird! He-he-he...." She cried.
Toxic helped her onto her hoofs. "Silverfox, calm down."
"Thunderbird is launching an attack on the castle!" She screamed. In a frenzied manner, Silverfox sent a beam of magic into the door, shattering it. "Do you remember how you got in here?!" She said.
Catfight nodded. "Let me lead the way."
Silverfox, Toxic, Scout, and Diamondshine ran out of the bloodied room after Catfight- who was eager to leave.
After running up the many, hard steps, the group had escaped.
"We were lucky Thunderbird employed the rest of his soldiers to attack." Silverfox said darkly.
"It doesn't matter! We have to reach the castle before its too late!" Toxic exclaimed.
They ran across the market- which was empty and completely abandoned an into the courtyard of the castle. It showed clear sighs of having a battle fought on it, blood stained the bright green grass and a couple bodies lay strewn about.
Toxic's eyes narrowed. "Get ready to fight, guys. We may be the only hope for the kingdom." Green magic stormed at his horn and the door blew into splinters. The rest of the group flooded into the castle's throne room in offensive positions.
The ponies gasped as they were met with a horrifying sight: Thunderbird lay lazily in Embane's throne, Icebird bird crouched in Goldenbell's. Elven and Windbreaker were laying at his feet. Behind them, the royals and nobles were in shackles.
They were too late.
The palace had gone down quickly. The Wingblasts and the palace guards put up a good fight, but the former was nervous due to Radar's condition and the latter trying to protect the nobles and the royals. Goldenbell was focused on helping her subjects and surrendered when Embane fell, while Embane slaughtered as many soldiers as he could before they overran him. Cross was guarding Radar, hoping that he could be unnoticed in his tall tower room. However, the soldiers searched every room, and quickly apprehended the medic and patient. Even Ellar tried to fight, kicking and biting at the soldier. Due to his lack of sight and psychical weakness, he was one of the first to get captured.
"Ah Silverfox. Pleasure to meet you again." Thunderbird purred.
"YOU!" Silverfox screamed.
Thunderbird sighed. "Oh dear,the charm must have worn off." He turned his head. "Guards, chain them."
Soldiers emerged from the shadows of the room, greatly outnumbering the group of five.
"Don't resist. It's not use. We will just get ourselves killed." Toxic murmured, head down, as chains were placed on the ponies and magic-blocks were applied to the unicorns and alicorn.
They were lined up next to the nobles, Goldenbell, and Embane. Scout scampered next to Radar, happy to see a familiar face. Toxic heard a cry from the injured leader, and quickly assumed Scout had just told him the unfortunate fate of Twistedcloud.
Thunderbird climbed from the stolen throne, looking absolutely smug.
"Ah, my prisoners!" He said, his voice booming around the high ceilings. "Welcome to the first day of a new era! Sadly, most of you won't live to see the next, but it is still a very special day!"
"Are you just sugar-coating your take-over of Equestria?" Toxic growled.
"Silence him!" Thunderbird cried.
A soldier lunged at Toxic, the blade in his mouth stopping inches from the shocked stallion.
"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" Roared Goldenbell, effortlessly ripping out of her restraints and impaling the guards that tried to contain her. She ran to her son, giving the offending soldier a bone-breaking kick. Goldenbell wrapped Toxic in her wings, softly muttering to him.
Thunderbird looked slightly alarmed, then nodded to some other soldiers.
One of Thunderbird's goons managed to restrain the violent alicorn: by stabbing her in the stomach with his sword.
Toxic screamed as blood dripped on him and Goldenbell was stiff with shock. Embane turned to Cross and yelled, "Why are you just standing there?! Heal her!"
He must be reminded of what happened during the Great Alicorn War, Silverfox thought, recalling the event in which Goldenbell nearly died.
When Cross attempted to leave Radar and Scout's side, a soldier aimed his lance at him.
"There won't be any need for that." Cross said quietly but sternly, "I am a doctor, so I am going to heal Goldenbell. I am a neutral figure. I pose no threat to you."
Silverfox couldn't help but crack a smile. Cross most certainly posed a threat to them.
Thunderbird, however, bought Cross's lies. A malicious grin came to his face.
"Alright, since your a neutral, heal the mare. Along with every other wounded pony in the room."
Cross gaped. "W-what?! I can't do that! I will be too exhausted to move after that!" He cried.
Thunderbird shrugged. "Shame."
Cross was visibly shaking as he went, one by one, to the over one hundred injured ponies. He had started with Goldenbell, of course, then the rest of the prisoners(Embane refused to be healed), after that he went to Thunderbird's soldiers.
"This is torture!" Silverfox whispered to Diamondshine with disgust as Cross stumbled and trudged to the next soldier.
"For who," Diamondshine muttered back, cringing when Cross collapse on the ground. "the spectators or Cross?"
Thunderbird trotted to the exhausted heap that was Cross.
"C'mon." He said mockingly. "Isn't it your job to heal the injured? Are you tired? I'm sorry I don't understand unicorn magic." There was no pity or sympathy in his voice, only malice.
The earth pony gave Cross a rough kick to the stomach in an attempt to rouse him. "Get up." He snarled.
Cross struggled to his hoofs, coughing and retching. Surprisingly, he trudged to Embane.
"L-let me heal you..." He murmured, trying to touch his horn to Embane's leg.
Embane shook his head. "Cross, no. You can barely stand." He gently pressed the shuddering unicorn against his side with his wide wing.
Cross smiled viciously and a small amount of red magic formed on his horn. A soundless blast erupted from the medic's horn, but there was no damage to the surrounding castle.
Embane looked down, surprised. "What did you do?"
Cross never got to answer. Suddenly, screams echoed around the palace throne room. Silverfox gasp as blood splattered to the floor. The enemy's wounds that had been healed had been ripped open, due to Cross's spell.
This move had also ripped through Thunderbird's stoic mask. He stomped to the unicorn, who was leaning on Embane for support, muscles rippling under his coat.
"What did you do, unicorn?" The orange earth pony snapped, his muzzle inches from Cross's.
The exhausted unicorn smiled weakly. "It's a spell that we doctors are taught in case we are put in a situation like you just put me in. It's rather nifty, huh? I can control who it affects, so my allies are perfectly fine."
"Can't we just kill him now? I would be much easier." Called a soldier behind Thunderbird, limping on an extruding broken leg, most likely newly shattered by Cross's spell.
Thunderbird turning his head, his teeth gritted. "We need a doctor, Ren. Even if I have to torture him into submission." Suddenly, he faced his audience of prisoners. "Speaking of that, would any of you like to join the New Pony Movement wordlessly? I will try my best to make you a prime candidate for being a representative for your species." Thunderbird strutted to Silverfox, running a hoof down her mane. "Especially you, Silverfox. I was so happy I got you to my side. But now I see you have betrayed me. Shame, I thought we had something special."
Silverfox spat at his face. "Gee, I thought the same thing when you had me kidnapped. And when you had your little psycho pegasus run a whip through my fur." She sarcastically grinned. "You really had me attracted when you brainwashed me. That was a sweet move, Thunderbird. I was flattered."
Thunderbird frowned. "But Silverfox, you must have sympathized with me when I 'convinced' you join to us. The amulet has to have something to work on."
This remark caused a ripple of murmurs throughout the prisoner line.
"Of course I sympathized with you! I understand where you are coming from! But your methods are insane, your insane!" Silverfox snarled.
Thunderbird narrowed his eyes and suddenly kissed Silverfox. The unicorn seemed shocked and disgusted, quickly shoving the stallion off her.
"Please, join me, Silverfox...." Thunderbird whispered in her ear.
Catfight and Diamondshine sprung into action. Without warning, her companions leapt on Thunderbird, shouting insults and trying to headbutt until they were driven off by uninjured soldier.
"I'll never join you, creep!" Silverfox screamed, asserting her place in between Diamondshine and Catfight.
Thunderbird turned, dusting himself off with a healthy shake. "Fine. No one else then? This is the last try." A silence ensured, only broken by Scout and Radar shouting some rather obscene things. "Alright. No harm done. I have enough soldiers anyway. I just wanted to save some kindred lives." Thunderbird looked at his troops and started barking instructions. "Don't cause anymore trouble. I am going to have a meeting with my generals and soldiers." After that, the earth pony strutted to the throne, far off from the prisoners, and the rest of the New Pony Movement sauntered in that direction.
Immediately, the chained ponies circled around and began to talk.
"There is no way to escape. What should we do?" Asked Diamondshine nervously.
Embane lowered his head and muttered. "We don't have many fighters left. Cross is completely out, Radar is out of the question, Goldenbell is still woozy from blood loss, Ellar isn't much of a combative, Silverfox looks pretty rough, and I'm not feeling so hot myself."
"I can fight!" Silverfox, Ellar and Goldenbell snapped together, but a distasteful glance from Embane prevented any more interjections.
"And," Toxic added with further disappoint, "We have magic blocks on that only Thunderbird can take off. In addition, the chains are too heavy to fly in. We are pretty much screwed."
"Don't talk like that!" Scout cried quietly, standing up beside Radar. "There is always a chance!"
Radar sighed, a heavy breath that shook the injured pegasus's body. "I like your attitude, Scout, but Toxic's right. There isn't much we can do in this situation. Thunderbird may be a lot of things, but he is not stupid. He made sure to disable the strongest in the group, that's why he made his troops attack my team before the plan really came into progress. He took Silverfox so he could lure Toxic and co into a trap. Somewhere along the line, he took Scout and.." He paused and swallowed. "Twistedcloud. I'm pretty sure he planned to kill all of you."
"But," Toxic intervened, "he was pretty smug to send Silverfox to do it. I'm pretty sure he didn't count on me snapping her out of the charm. That probably saved all of our lives."
And so, the conversation about Thunderbird's plans continued. Eventually, Toxic began to stop listening. His companions were just restated things they already knew.
"Toxic..?" The alicorn heard a voice whisper behind him.
Toxic's head jerked to the sound of the small voice. And there, crouched behind a stone pillar in the shadows was Dusty.
"Dusty?" Toxic exclaimed, shuffling over to him, trying to not to get the other's attention. A pang of guilt hit him, he had forgotten about the little pegasus he was touring around the castle when Silverfox had gone missing. He must have been here through the attack, he thought, feeling even worse.
"T-Toxic, what's going on? Who is the big earth pony?" The pegasus squeaked.
While trying to find a way to explain the taking over of their country in foal- friendly terms, Toxic saw a window. It was a small stained glass one, but could be easily opened. But it was so small, only a foal could fit through it.... Suddenly, Toxic had a eureka moment.
"Dusty!" Toxic said, ecstatic with his plan. "I need to open that window and fly out of it. Can you do that?"
Dusty nodded, his sand-colored mane flipping in his eyes. "Yes sir! I'm a pretty good flyer!"
"Good. I need you to fly outside and out to the forest. Keep going until you reach griffin country. When you see a griffin, I want you to say, 'I come in peace! I wish to speak with the alpha, it is an emergency in Eclipse!' Once you see the alpha, tell her Toxic needs her help, it's life or death. And to bring warriors." Toxic said, feeling a bit bad for putting the fate of Eclipse in the hoofs of a pegasus who was still in grade school.
"Is that all?" Dusty said with hilarious seriousness, saluting.
"War! Tell her we are at war! We are desperate!" Toxic added, hoping the alpha could drag some kindness from the bottom of her heart and bring help.
Dusty nodded and took off. Toxic watched nervously at the meeting Thunderbird was holding, praying that his entire plan wouldn't come apart because Thunderbird decided to turn around. Surprisingly, Toxic's luck held out. The earth pony showed no notice of what was happening on the other side of the palace.
Once Dusty had cleared the window and was outside, Toxic resumed his place in his friend's circle.
"Hey, Toxic, where did you go?" Silverfox asked, taking note of his disappearance.
"I just did something awesome!" Toxic whispered to her.
Silverfox raised her eyebrows, but her answer was cut off by Thundebird's sudden voice.
"I'm glad you had your last moments of fellowship together." Thunderbird stated, trotting to Embane's throne and sitting down. "Because my generals and I have decided it is just easier to kill you all now."
Shouts and screams went through the prisoner line. Toxic gripped onto Silverfox in fear and Diamondshine looked awfully faint.
"Icebird," Thunderbird said looking at his brother. "Who should we execute first?"
"Hmm..." Icebird said, scanning through the captives with sharp blue eyes. "I say we pick off the scrawny pegasus first. He seems fun. Lets decapitate him."
All eyes shot to Ellar, but no one moved. The seer's blind eyes darted around and he shook.
"C'mon!" Shouted Thunderbird. "Be a real stallion and accepted your fate!"
Soldiers came and dragged Ellar from the spot he sat, throwing him in front of Thunderbird.
"Windbreaker, your hatchet." Thunderbird said quietly, and the pegasus gleefully complied.
The earth pony approached Ellar, who had now started sobbing. Thunderbird steadied the blade on his neck.
"NO!" Screamed Radar, struggling to sit up. "Take me instead! Please!"
Thunderbird smirked. "Aw, what a cute display of bravery. Don't worry, you'll be next."
Thunderbird lifted the hatchet in his mouth, readying a clean cut.
Suddenly, the entire wall of the castle burst in.
The calvary had arrived.
The alpha griffin was flanked by twenty-five warriors, all of varying genders.
Thunderbird dropped the hatchet and stepped back in shock.
"W-What?! Who are you?!" He exclaimed.
Toxic carefully approached the alpha, seeing Dusty was gleefully perched on her head.
"Ma'am! You came!" The alicorn said.
The griffin flicked her tail. "Kidka insisted that I come and help. And your little messenger wouldn't shut up." She glared at Thunderbird. "I'm gonna assume this is your enemy."
Embane struggled to his feet. "Ah, Tsarina. My son sent for you? Wonderful. I need you and your warriors to fight alongside us." The prince turned to his nobles. "If you are too weak to fight, evacuate now."
Thunderbird growled and his troops surrounded him. "You really think you can beat me with that many warriors?"
Embane smirked and Tsarina joined his side, able fighters stirring behind him. The only ones that had to run was Cross and Radar, but still they crept in the shadows, ready to fight if needed.
The two armies faced each other, neither daring to make a move.
After some long seconds, Embane shouted, "REBELS, ATTACK!"
The dueling groups crashed into each other with various battle cries. Griffin claws flashed and pony legs kicked as the sides fought.
Silverfox dodged a knife-wielding earth pony and lashed out with her horn. Even though the magic block was in place, it was still the equivalent of a small drill attached to her head. She, along with the other rebels, had broken out of heavy chains that limited their mobility. As she gave her attacker a devastating kick to the jaw, Silverfox spotted Thunderbird running off from the battle.
That coward, she thought.
Hearing a familiar cry behind her, Silverfox turned to see a pegasus holding down Toxic.
Windbreaker!
But before she could bring vengeance on the mare, a white horn flashed from the shadows, stabbing Windbreaker right between her shoulder blades. Cross! The white unicorn shakily stepped out and gave the pegasus a good kick. She didn't stir.
"Thanks!" Silverfox screamed over the sounds of battle. "But I wanted to kill her myself!"
Cross smiled, kicking a new attacker.
Toxic pulled himself up and murmured a quiet thanks to Cross.
"Toxic!" Silverfox cried, watching the passage where Thunderbird disappeared. "They won't stop attacking until Thunderbird is dead!"
Toxic nodded, taking a break from fighting. Around him, a griffin and a sword wielding unicorn brawled.
"What about his little posse?"
Silverfox gritted her teeth. "Round up the others and tell them to go for Windbreaker, Elven, and Icebird." Her eyes narrowed with determination. "I'm going after Thunderbird."
Toxic nodded and rushed off to spread the word.
Silverfox ran through the thick of battle, avoiding as many frays as she could. Behind her, she saw Embane and Tsarina fighting back to back, Embane showing off the unorthodox way of horn use as seen in his past.
There it is, Silverfox thought, spotting the passage that Thunderbird had escaped through. Silverfox had seen this place before, it led to a long staircase. Beyond that was a medium sized room with a couple chairs.
Rushing up the stairs ahead of her, Silverfox wondered if she could really take Thunderbird down.
After some heart-thudding seconds, Silverfox arrived at the door, which was closed.
Here we go, she thought, shoving the wooden door open with her head.
~
Diamondshine headbutted his opponent and, once again, searched the room. To his surprise, Elven stood there, feet away, most likely looking for more targets. Diamondshine shuddered with anticipation and a bit of fear. It wasn't since the Demonfox incident that he had fought, and he couldn't even use his magic. Now he was fighting for his life and home.
Giving himself a healthy stretch, Diamondshine ran at Elven, a battle cry rising in his throat.
Before the unicorn reached Elven, Ellar came out of nowhere and tackled the mare from behind. The skinny pegasus screamed and bit at Elven's back and ears, also hitting her with his wings, which basically was a weapon on its own.
Diamondshine rushed to his side, kicking the mare when she threw Ellar off. Elven quickly drew her machete from the sheath and faced her attackers.
"Two against one.....that can't be fair, right?" She hissed, blowing her green mane out of her eyes.
The three ponies circled each other, the rest of the world dead to them. Elven lunged first, slashing Ellar's face with her blade. Diamondshine slammed his horn on Elven's machete, standing in front of the bleeding pegasus. Elven, however, went slack on her knife and gave Diamondshine a harsh kick to the chest. Diamondshine was throne back, gasping for breath.
"Get away from him!" Ellar cried, the scrawny pegasus stumbling to Diamondshine, guarding him with his body. When the mare closed in for the kill, Ellar suddenly struck out. With a surprising display of power, Ellar hit Elven at just the right angle. A sickening crack sounded around the area and Elven fell to the ground, limp. Ellar had broken her neck.
"She.... Did I....." Ellar gasped.
Diamondshine pulled himself up and blinked a couple times. "You did it. That's one out of three. Let's find the others."
~
"Ah, Silverfox. You came." Thuderbird said, his eyes reflecting him the dark room.
"Of course I did, you coward. I want to end this war." Silverfox snarled.
"Clever." Thunderbird said, trotting to a chair and stroking the soft fabric. "You realized that since I was the leader of the New Pony Movement, so if I was killed, the attacks would be over."
Silverfox nodded.
Thunderbird smiled. "I was hoping no one would spot me sneaking away. I wanted to preserve myself, even if we lost."
"How could you do that?! Completely abandoning your brother and generals?" Silverfox yelled, infuriated.
Thunderbird shrugged. "It doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, if I complete my goals, why should my underlings share the glory? I am simply using them so I don't have to be in the fray the entire time. My brother is rather smitten with the equality idea, but he is just going to be a representative for the unicorns. I am going to be the leader."
Silverfox narrowed her eyes. "You're singing a different tune than when you were trying to convince me to join your group, huh?"
Thunderbird smirked. "Yes, after some time I realized that leadership won't work like that. Someone will get power hungry and slowly try to take over the council. I might as well make that me before things get out of hand, right?"
"Embane and Goldenbell are better leaders than you could dream to be." Silverfox hissed.
"Ah, Silverfox." Thunderbird murmured. "I had such big plans for you. Sadly you decided to put blind faith in your rulers."
"Blind faith?! I know them!"
Thunderbird laughed. "Really? What was Embane's best friend's name? What is the name of Goldenbell's parents? Huh, huh?" There was a silence as Silverfox bit her lip. "You know nothing of them."
"I know nothing of you either! But thing I know for sure is that you are a horrible pony!" Silverfox screamed.
Thunderbird shook his head. "Now, now, dear. Give me a break. I had a pretty hard life."
"That's no excuse for being a tyrant!"
"Weren't we going to fight, mare?" Thunderbird snarled, crouching down in a offensive pose and drawing his hammer.
Silverfox lowered her head, horn aimed at Thunderbird. If I had my magic, this would be over in no time, she thought.
~
"Only Icebird is left." Embane said, watching Tsarina strut away from the limp body of Windbreaker. It had been an easy fight, the alpha griffin had effortlessly grabbed the pegasus from the air and snapped her back. No one on the other side seemed very sad.
Embane's sharp eyes scanned the battle ground. His castle was in ruins, curtains were ripped, holes littered around and blood stained the ground. No sign of the blue unicorn.
His army seemed ok, no one was seriously injured. Just some scratches.
Toxic had told him that Silverfox had went after Thunderbird, so they had to hunt down his brother fast.
"Father! Someone, help!" Toxic cried.
Embane immediately looked for the source of his son's voice.
Toxic had cornered Icebird, the unicorn fiercely fighting back with his staff. Embane surged forward to his son, throwing enemies out of the way.
As if on cue, soldiers gathered around Embane, blocking him from interrupting the fight between alicorn and unicorn.
Toxic kicked back Icebird's staff and flew up. Icebird fired beams of magic at him, and it was getting increasingly harder to dodge them. I have got to play offense, Toxic thought. Bracing, the alicorn threw himself at Icebird, a reckless, dangerous tackle. The two stallions, rolled across the hard floor and stopped in front of one of the palaces's grand pillars. An idea came to Toxic. The alicorn pushed Icebird under him and started to headbutt the pillar above them.
Icebird struggled under him, reaching feebly for his staff, which was thrown away from him when Toxic tackled him. Hearing the cracking sound, Icebird's eyes dilated, he realized what Toxic was doing.
Crack!
When the pillar fell, Toxic took to the air. Hearing the disgusting sound of bones breaking, he cringed. Icebird had been crushed by the heavy piece of marble.
At the death of the last general, the room went quiet. The rebels were gleeful, while fear flickered in their opponent's eyes.
All that was left was Thunderbird.
~
Unaware of the victory taking place downstairs, Silverfox and Thunderbird dueled. Both sides had injuries- bruises and cuts that bled, but they didn't notice.
Thunderbird knocked Silverfox back with surprising strength and pinned her down.
"After I kill you," He whispered, "I'll kill your friends next."
This sparked anger inside of Silverfox. She surged up, throwing the larger earth pony off her.
"No. You. Won't!" She screamed, lunging at him. The unicorn stabbed him with her horn, eyes flashing with malice.
Thunderbird gasped in pain, squirming under her attack. Thunderbird slammed his head into her and retreated, jumping up on one of the chairs in the room. He stood there, panting, blood dropping from his body.
Silverfox stalked towards him, head ducked down and eyes narrow.
"You're not brave enough to kill me!" He exclaimed, his voice however was filled with obvious doubt.
"I am a writer. I open letters for a living. I get paid with food." Silverfox hissed. "But this does not mean I will be cowardly to kill you."
Before Silverfox could attack, Thunderbird leapt on her, hammer in mouth, and slammed it into her leg. Silverfox cried in pain, her voice carrying around the circular room. She felt her bones snap and shatter, it had to be the most intense pain she had ever felt. Silverfox fell to the ground, gasping for breath.
Thunderbird raised the hammer high, aiming it directly over her head- a one hit kill shot.
With a quick movement, Silverfox slid out from the blow and sent her horn into Thunderbird's neck.
The hammer dropped from his mouth and Thunderbird made an odd, gurgling sound. Blood dripped from his mouth and his eyes went dull. Silverfox was shaking, his blood was sliding down her face. She easily slid her from the dead earth pony's neck and Thunderbird went crashing to the floor. She felt an odd sensation on her horn and the magic block was released.
Stepping back from Thunderbird's body, what had just happened hit Silverfox hard: she had stopped the New Pony Movement. She dumbly summoned magic to her horn, just to see if it still worked.
Still in a stupor, Silverfox opened the door, looking at the stairs beyond her.
I guess I should officially end this, she thought.
Enveloping Thunderbird's body with a levitation spell, Silverfox threw it down the stairs. She limped after it, stopping at the door, facing the battlefield. The fighting still seemed to be going on, if scarcely.
"The fighting is over!" She exclaimed, Thunderbird's body splayed in front of her. "Your leader is dead!"
Everyone stopped. Soldiers gasp and ripples of conversation spread through the room. She heard Scout and Radar scream in victory.
"Silverfox!" Toxic said, the alicorn running to her. He had some wounds and blood splattered on him, but otherwise fine.
That seemed to break the stillness. The rebels jumped for joy and Embane rushed to see her. Suddenly overcome by exhaustion and an agonizing pain in her leg, Silverfox swayed on her feet. She was quickly supported by Toxic, who had a look of concern on his face.
"New Pony Movement soldiers!" Embane boomed to the crowd. "You have two choices: surrender and help build back to castle to atone, or refuse and be banished!"
After some seconds, a mare came up to Embane, trembling.
"I-I will like to surrender..." She murmured.
Embane smiled. "Thank you, madam." He said quietly.
Eventually, most of the enemy ponies came to Embane to surrender. The ones who refused, however, left the castle with heads held high.
With the soldiers organized, Embane came to Tsarina and bowed deeply.
"I cannot thank you enough for what you have done. You can return home now, with the knowledge you have helped a neighbor in need." He murmured.
Tsarina laughed heavily. "Your son saved my daughter's life." Calling to her warriors, the griffins left through the hole they had came.
It was Goldenbell who spoke now. "If you are injured, please go and rest in your room. Cross or I will attend to you soon."
Scout and some Wingbolts that had been trapped outside went to the New Pony Movement's base to retrieve Twistedcloud's body. Thunderbird's and his general's (along with the other soldier's) bodies had been cremated, despite being cruel ponies, they were given a small service, because of the due to the dead. Cross helped Radar to his room, letting him rest for the remainder of the night. Diamondshine and Catfight refused to go back to their houses, sleeping in the castle instead. Silverfox limped straight to bed, her bag and paper returned to her room by a kind Wingblast. Toxic also went to sleep, but Embane and Goldenbell oversaw the rebuilt of the castle. After sometime, the rulers allowed the ponies to rest, then they too went to bed.
Silverfox and Toxic sat in her room, writing by candlelight. Silverfox was continuing her epic she had started a few weeks ago, before the whole New Pony Movement thing had gone on. It was going well, she already had acquired a pleasant thinness of pages.
Toxic was furiously writing something on the floor behind her, while Silverfox sat in her chair by the desk. She had assumed he was drawing, so she sat some nice charcoal pencils beside him. Toxic just shook his head, clearly engulfed in what he was writing.
She knew the feeling.
Silverfox reclined back. She couldn't believe it had been only four weeks since Thunderbird had attempted to take over the palace. Thinking back, the situation seemed surreal, almost like a book or a story. Just like a book or a story! Happy with her new source of inspiration, Silverfox started writing again. So far, her work was about a hideous monster taking over an entire country, and its gaze could turn ponies mad. Silverfox laughed darkly. All the trauma she had experienced hadn't been for nothing.
"Silverfox! Silverfox! Read this!" Toxic exclaimed, holding the thing he had been writing for the last hour and a half in his mouth triumphantly.
Not sure what to expect, Silverfox took the paper from his mouth. She scanned the paper. The top was titled "my story" and Silverfox read it out loud.
"I was in my house when my friends came over we had fun and stuff but then this monster came. ahhh that's scary I said very scared. then I beat up the monster but then it said stop im a good monster so I stopped beating up it. yeah now we are all friends I said happy. I am happy my friend said. oh no what about my evil twin the monster said. then the monsters evil twin came and he ate pony foals. stop thats bad my friends and I said because eating foals is bad. then the monsters evil twin said no its good and tasty and cool. then everyone died and turned into a monster and started eating foals."
Silverfox bit her lip, trying not to bust into inappropriate laughter. It was hilariously bad, but Toxic had really tried. She couldn't possibly hurt his feelings, she had watched him erase and squint at the paper for nearly two hours.
"What'd you thing? Was it good? I was inspired by your tragedy books. Wasn't the ending absolutely unexpected?" Toxic said, completely proud of himself.
Silverfox wasn't sure what to say. The writer part of her said to say, "Sorry, it was terrible. Don't quit your day job." While the best friend side of her told her to say, "It's splendid. Keep up the good work!"
After a quit internal struggle, her best friend side won.
Sticking a proud smile on her face, Silverfox lied, "Good job, Toxic. I am glad I inspired you to write."
Toxic jumped for joy. "Really?! I didn't think it was that good! One day, maybe I will be as good as you!"
Silverfox smiled honestly now. "If you don't mind, I want to keep it." Waiting for a reassuring nod from her friend, Silverfox stuck the piece of paper in her bag with magic.
Suddenly, Toxic glanced around. "Ah, what time is it?"
Silverfox looked at a clock on the wall, it was nearly twelve o'clock in the morning! The night had passed quickly writing.
Toxic followed her gaze to the clock.
"Gah! It's so late! I have to go to bed!" He exclaimed.
Silverfox laughed. "This is nothing. I have written until, like, four. We can stay up later and just sleep the rest of the day away, right?"
Toxic shook his head rushing to Silverfox to say goodnight. "No, I'm not feeling well to begin with... I should just get to bed."
Silverfox jumped back quickly. "What kind of 'not feeling well' are we speaking of?" She was squeamish, and Toxic throwing up all over her carpet was not something she needed.
"No, no..." Toxic murmured. "Not like that. I just feel kind of dizzy and just a tad bit feverish. I'm probably just coming down with a cold."
"Oh..." Silverfox said. "Goodnight, then. I hope you get to feeling better."
She turned around and started to fix her bed, and the soft click of her door told her Toxic had left the room. Extinguishing the candle, Silverfox crawled into the fluffy folds of blankets.
However, it wasn't until she had about forty minutes of sleep that a green light filled the room. Silverfox peeked over the covers to see Toxic beside her bed, head down and shaking.
"What's wrong?" She asked, her voice slightly slurred by tiredness.
"I'm feeling pretty rough. Do you mind if I sleep with you?" Toxic whispered.
"Of course I don't. We have shared a bed since we were foals." Silverfox muttered. Toxic curled into the bed next to her, struggling to get comfortable. "But if you are feeling that bad," She added. "I can go get Cross."
Toxic shook his head rapidly. "No, it's too late. I will be fine."
Silverfox shrugged and soon fell asleep.
Silverfox awoke some hours later, sweating and unaware of what had woken her. She was relieved to see Toxic had settled down, he had been tossing and turning for the majority of his sleep.
She assumed it was still night, for there was no light leaking through the cracks of the door. Silverfox flipped over to Toxic, watching the sleep. Then she noticed something.
Toxic was still.
Too still.
Gasping, Silverfox touched him. His skin was burning up. The alicorn's body radiated heat, most likely the reason why she had woken in a sweat, Silverfox assumed.
"Toxic?" She whispered, shaking him. "Toxic? Wake up!" She was shaking now, starting to feel uncontrollable panic welling up inside of her.
Toxic made a noise that was something between a groan and a whimper.
Swallowing nervously, Silverfox leaped off the bed and galloped to Cross's room. Without even bothering to knock, Silverfox threw open the unicorn's door.
Cross was curled under a blanket on a cot in the floor. The unicorn raised his hand, sleepy eyes struggling to focus on Silverfox.
"We have an emergency." She whispered.
~
A soft meowing woke Catfight. The mare yawned and stretched out her legs in a cat-like manner. She rose, pink mane falling in her eyes. Catfight spotted the culprit of her awakening sitting at her side.
"Tom!" She joking scolded the grey cat. "I was sleeping!"
Still giggling, Catfight trotted into the kitchen of her tree-house. She fixed herself a sandwich and gulped down a glass of juice.
She pulled on her trademark cat hat and flew out the door. Her house was attached to a large tree, with no ladder or stairs in sight. Her house simply wasn't made to accommodate non-flyers.
Catfight soared to Diamondshine's house, who lived more in the populated part of Eclipse. The unicorn lived in a small, one story house with many windows. Diamondshine felt the sunshine was healthy for his mane.
Catfight went into the house, not even bothering to knock.
Stepping into Diamondshine's kitchen, Catfight found her friend sitting at the table, towel around his neck and sipping on a cup of tea. The unicorn had obviously just taken a bath, his mane was still dripping wet.
"You ready to go Dia?" Catfight said, bouncing up and down.
Diamondshine looked shocked, dropping his cup back on the table.
"I-I almost forgot! Give me some time to dry and style my mane!" With a golden flash of fur, Diamondshine was off to his bathroom.
Catfight sighed and sat where the unicorn had been previously. She helped herself to a cup of tea from the still-hot teapot Diamondshine had left. Still hungry, Catfight even managed to scrounge up some biscuits.
Some thirty minutes later, Diamondshine trotted into the kitchen, mane at its usual perfection. He flipped it graciously.
"Can we go now?" Catfight said.
After getting a positive answer from the unicorn, the duo spend off to the castle. However, they found it was unusually empty. They searched around a bit, assuming it was still too early for anyone to be up. While looking in the kitchens, Catfight and Diamondshine encountered Ellar.
The blind pegasus had taken to cooking after Cupcake's traitorous intentions had been revealed. His food wasn't the best, but was still good nonetheless. Ellar was preparing some kind of soup, Catfight could smell the savory scent coming from the pot.
"Ellar, do you know where Silverfox is?" Catfight asked.
Ellar, stirring his concoction and eating an apple answered, "You haven't heard? Toxic's pretty sick. Cross and the Prince and Princess are up in Silverfox's room."
"What?!" The duo exclaimed in unison, taken back at the news.
Ellar sighed, adjusting the heat on his soup. "Yes, I wish I could have foreseen it...."
Saying goodbye to the seer, Catfight and Diamondshine rushed up the stairs to the library, which served as their friend's room.
They found Silverfox standing outside the door, mane disheveled and her eyes tired. The unicorn looked at her companions sadly. "Sorry I didn't tell you.... I wanted I stay here in case...he..." She trailed off, gritting her teeth.
Catfight was completely taken back by Silverfox's pitiful condition. Nodding at Diamondshine, the two wrapped Silverfox in a warm hug. The unicorn smiled slightly.
With a silent creak, Cross peered out the door. "Ah, you two are here. I was going to retrieve Silverfox so she could hear my announcement. I guess her friends can come too."
Biting her lip, Silverfox, followed by Catfight and Diamondshine, trotted into the room.
Toxic was curled on the bed, his fur slick with sweat. His eyes were clenched closed, and he seemed to mutter every once and a while.
Embane and Goldenbell stood by the bedside, Embane glancing up slightly when the newcomers arrived.
Not wanting to prolong the moment any longer, Cross levitated a large book from the nightstand. He flipped it open, turning to a certain page and reading it over.
Clearing his throat, the doctor began. "I'm afraid Toxic has a very serious illness. This illness, called the 'Black Fever' has a very short incubation time, explaining why Toxic had such a sudden hit with the symptoms. To make it even more dangerous, this illness progresses through the body fast. Meaning, we don't have much time until it kills him. This book says the Black Fever can only be cured by the Onsinian flower, which grows in the Forbidden Forest, but it is very rare." Cross sighed. "It's our only choice."
Goldenbell dipped her head, engaging in silent sobs. Embane just stood, too shocked to show any kind of emotion.
Out of nowhere, Silverfox said strongly, "I'll do it. I'll get that flower."
"What?!" Gasped Embane.
Catfight stepped up, coming to Silverfox's side. "I'll go too."
Diamondshine had a look of sheer nervousness on his face as he murmured, "I guess that makes three."
Embane trotted to them, shaking his head. "Are...are you sure?"
Silverfox nodded, all traces of previously exhaustion gone. "Of course. Toxic is our best friend."
Taking a deep breath, the Prince said, "Pack your things and meet me in the main room."
Silverfox sped off to her room while Catfight and Diamondshine split up and gathered other supplies.
Soon, the pegasus and Diamondshine met up with Embane in the throne room.
"Where is Silver?" Catfight asked, looking around.
"I'm here!" Silverfox exclaimed, running into the grand, newly built back room, her hoofs clacking against the marble floors. She had a brown hat on, and her satchel trailed behind her.
"What are you wearing?" Embane inquired, his eyes drawn to the unicorn's particular headwear.
Silverfox smiled proudly, stopping in front of the group. "This is my Daring Do hat."
"Your what?"
"I thought you would know, since you are pretty old. Daring Do is the main character in the book series Daring Do. It's this awesome action/adventure series about an explorer who has, well, daring adventures! I found it deep in the library, and its cover was nearly completely worn, so I assumed it was from the Canterlot-royal period."
"What does his have to do with anything?" Embane moaned.
Silverfox pulled the brim of her hat over her eyes. "Everything. This entire situation reminds me of the standard find-the-cure plot for a book! I have decided to use my genre-savviness to our advantage while we are in the Forbidden Forest."
Embane groaned, a bit saddened that his son's life was in the hoofs of an utter bookworm.
"Let's begin." He muttered, turning to the awaiting trio.
Embane summoned grey colored magic to his horn, preparing the long distance teleport spell. He touched each pony's foreheads, starting with Catfight, sending them into oblivion.
When he got to Silverfox, the unicorn gave him a smile of determination. Embane weakly smiled back and teleported her.
Silverfox felt herself thrown into darkness, instantly blacking out as she was thrown thousands of miles.
~
Silverfox stirred slightly, shaking leaves out of her mane and spitting out dirt. She adjusted her hat and shakily stood up. Silverfox paused, waiting until she felt her absolute best. Trotting over to the still-sleeping forms of Catfight and Diamondshine, she gently shook them.
Catfight was up first, taking in their new surroundings. It was a magnificent forest; trees towered above them, hundreds of feet, meeting into a canopy. The thick ceiling of foliage seemed to block off most of the sunlight, leaving the trio in a medium darkness. It was enough to see, but not bright enough to fully grasp their surroundings.
"So where is this Onsinian flower supposed to be?" Diamondshine said, adjusting the strap of his backpack on his shoulder.
Silverfox opened her mouth to say something, but almost instantaneously closed it.
"We...we didn't think this through, did we?" Silverfox finally murmured.
Her companions shook their heads.
"Does it matter?" Catfight said, trying to raise her friend's spirits. "We know the flower's here, so we can just wing it from here, right? How hard can finding a little flower be?"
"That's what the ponies in books always say." Silverfox muttered. "You just tempted the fates. It's going to be very hard."
Catfight smiled sheepishly.
The three decided to just search the forest by walking. As she trotted, in the lead, Silverfox admired the various plants and sights of the Forbidden Forest. Exotic berries and flowers grew above her, but none of them were the sacred Onsinian. She remembered the picture from Cross's medical book; it was of medium size, grey colored with a pure black centered. It was beautiful, in that gothic sort of way. Silverfox had decided to get another for her room if the stock was available.
Silverfox was lost in her thoughts, mystified by the forest's foliage, but a sharp cry from Diamondshine jerked her abruptly back to reality.
"Silverfox! Catfight! Help!" A vine was wrapped around the unicorn's back leg, straining and pulling while Diamondshine desperately tried to hold his ground.
Silverfox rolled her eyes. "Dia, really. You just got stuck in a vine."
Fear flashed in his eyes. "No, this thing is alive!"
Silverfox looked above the struggling unicorn, and she drew back in horror.
Diamondshine was right, the plant was alive. A system of vines was strung around a tree, the thin, whiplike vines cracking and moving in the air.
Magic flaring at her horn, Silverfox cried, "Catfight! Lets get Diamondshine out if this!"
The two mares attack the vines, Catfight hefting Silverfox in flight so the unicorn could attack the demonic plants mid-air.
Silverfox managed to blast a couple of the vines of the tree before the one wrapped around Diamondshine threw him in the air. It shook the stallion by the leg, attempting to kill him. But when Silverfox heard the disgusting crack and Diamondshine's cry of pain she knew what had happened.
Catfight gritted her teeth and soared to the main vine, Silverfox slicing it with a magic blade. Diamondshine limply fell to the ground and the vine around his leg stopped moving.
The two mares landing, both rushing to their friend. Silverfox crouched over him, her face grim.
"That doesn't look good." Catfight said, stating the obvious.
Diamondshine's leg was clearly broken, Silverfox could see the white edge of a bone protruding out of it. The stallion was hunched on the ground in pain, injured leg splayed away from him.
Silverfox and Catfight sat beside him, letting him rest for several minutes.
"Dia, can you walk?" Silverfox asked.
Diamondshine lifted his eyes open.
"It would be very, very painful, but yes." He murmured.
Catfight sighed. "Let's hope you have a high tolerance for pain."
Catfight helped pull the stallion up, Diamondshine cringing. The unicorn eventually found his footing, standing in an awkward position.
Silverfox gazed at Diamondshine. "We should keep moving."
Ignoring the slight groan from him, Silverfox continued her trek through the Forbidden Forest. They walked for what seemed like hours, and the little light that bypassed the canopy had disappeared. The ponies were soon stumbling in the dark, barely able to see the ground under them. It got so bad that Silverfox and Diamondshine were forced to summon light to their horns, making a light source for the front and the back.
Silverfox's stomach rumbled and her hoofs ached. Still, Cross's words echoed in her head."..we don't have much time until it kills him...."
"Silverfox...Can we please stop?" Catfight wheezed behind her.
"No!" Silverfox suddenly snapped."We can't! We have to find that flower! You heard Cross, Toxic will die if we don't find it soon!" She wasn't sure what had mad her so angry- probably a bad mixture of stress, fear, and hunger.
Catfight stopped abruptly. "We won't find anything if we run ourselves dry!" She hissed.
"We're ponies, we have incredible stamina! Resting would just waste time we can't afford!"
"It's already nighttime! There is no telling what lives here at night! I hope you remember we were attack by living plants in the broad daylight!"
"We are not defenseless! You can kick and punch and I can use spells!" Silverfox snarled.
"Guys...can you stop arguing?" A weak voice whispered.
Silverfox swung her lighted horn behind her. Diamondshine sat on his haunches, lame leg splayed out, sweat dripping down his forehead. The stallion's head was dipped downward and he was shaking badly.
"Dia..." Silverfox whispered, anger fading. "Are you ok?"
Diamondshine shook his head. "I'm completely spent. I don't think I could walk anymore. My leg is killing me."
Catfight gave an I told you so face.
Silverfox sat down, in front of Diamondshine. "I guess we can sleep here..." She said, her voice grave.
The silver unicorn curled up against her friends, closing her eyes and feeling their gentle warmth. She soon was asleep.
~
"Silverfox, wake up." Catfight's voice in her ear woke her.
Silverfox yawned and rose, stretching her hind legs.
Catfight looked excited and anxious, bouncing up and down. Her wings shuddered slightly. Even Diamonshine looked happy, forgetting about his crippling injury.
Silverfox raised her eyebrows. "What did I miss?"
"A lot! I woke up pretty early this morning, so I let you sleep. I got really bored and I started flying around, just to get 'bird's eye view' of our area. After I broke through the canopy, I saw this humongous temple! I came back and told Dia, we theorized that the flower is in there." The pegasus chirped, fluttering up and down.
"Gah, I slept that long?!"
"Nah, everything I just described took about forty-five minutes." Catfight said, reassuring her.
Silverfox addressed her two friends. "So, our destination is this temple that Catfight keeps going on about. But first," She paused. "We eat."
Diamondshine frowned, trying to clear leave out of his mane. "What do we eat?"
"We are horses, we graze."
"Oh yeah."
After eating the fine variety of grasses the Forbidden Forest had to offer, the trio set off on their journey.
"How long did you say this temple was from us?" Silverfox asked.
Catfight smiled sheepishly. "Well...flying is much faster than walking...."
Silverfox and Diamondshine groaned in unison.
Silverfox watched the stallion limp, he looked slightly better. Before they had left that morning, Silverfox and Catfight had discussed on how to make a splint for him. The tempers of the previous night were gone, and the two mares fashioned a splint for Diamondshine's leg. It wasn't the best, but it would work.
"You guys stop here, I'm gonna check how close we are." Catfight said, suddenly taking air and soaring through the canopy. The pegasus took it upon herself to make regular checks, just to make sure the group was going in the right direction.
Silverfox took this opportunity to take a rest. Emitting a small sigh, she let herself land on her haunches. The unicorn levitating her hat off her head, wiping the sweat from her forehead with a free hoof. The Forbidden Forest was extremely humid, and the trio was feeling it.
She licked her lips, wishing desperately for a sip of water. They had stumbled upon a spring a while back, but it was long gone now.
A sudden snap of branches brought Silverfox to attention. She instinctively came to Diamondshine's side, lighting her horn with magic.
"Who ever you are, come out now!" She snarled.
Three pairs of eyes shone through the bushes. Judging by the slits in their pupils, they definitely not creatures to be messed with.
Diamondshine let out an involuntary squeak, grabbing onto Silverfox.
This should be the opposite, she muttered to herself.
A roar slit the air and three figures leaped out of the bushes.
The largest, a tiger, was clearly the leader. He was flanked by a leopard and a jaguar, who looked much smaller in comparison. The three cats circled the two ponies, snarling and growling.
Silverfox raised her horn to cast a spell, but was interrupted by a vicious bat to the head. The mare was thrown back, her unconscious body hitting the forest floor feet away.
Diamondshine gasped, stepping back from the tiger, only to run into the leopard. A large paw went over his mouth, and fangs approached his neck.
"Get the female." The tiger hissed, nodding at the jaguar. The smaller cat threw Silverfox over his back.
"I'm back!" A voice cried, plunging thorough the canopy. Catfight landed, blinking in surprise when she saw the entire scene. "Um...what did I miss?"
Diamondshine tried to explain, but his words were muffled by the leopard's paw.
Not giving Catfight a chance to respond, the tiger lunged at her, pinning her to the ground. She struggled and even tried to bit the great feline, but a loud roar discouraged any further resistance. The tiger slammed the mare on the head, sending her into blackness.
~
Silverfox groaned, her head was aching big-time. She struggled to her hoofs and observed her surroundings. It was a grand stone chamber, with odd symbols painted on the wall. At the end of the room was a huge dais, stained dark red. On a outcrop on the wall sat a pot with a small flower growing in it.
The Onsinian flower.
Smiling wildly, Silverfox made a move for it, only to be interrupted by the sound of hoofs on stone. She whipped around, a tall stallion was approaching her. He wore a feathery headdress, with a string of bones around his neck. The stallion had bright red fur and fierce yellow eyes.
"Don't move." He hissed, red wings pushing back the cloak he wore, expanding his wingspan at their full extent.
Silverfox glared. "What have you done with my friends?! A pegasus and a unicorn. Stallion and mare."
The stallion smirked. "Those ponies are going to be used for a later sacrifice. You are the current one."
Silverfox bit her lip, regretting all those books she had read. "You are going to sacrifice me to some kind of god, right? Hack open a virgin on that dais over there, if I'm correct."
"You're a smart mare."
"You have got to be kidding me! That is the most stereotypical thing a villain could ever do! What are do beforehand, ravish me?!"
"What?" The stallion asked. "Of course not, that's gross."
"What kind of god are you going to sacrifice me to? A snake? Or maybe a crystal dragon?" Silverfox snarked.
The stallion narrowed his eyes. "It is the earth mother, Gaea. She will appreciate a disrespectful soul like you." The stallion cleared his throat, and similarly dressed guards came into the room. "Once we kill you, Gaea will restore the Onsinian and make it grow more offspring." Silverfox's eye caught the stallion's headdress, a shriveled black flower hung loosely.
Time to put on the charm, she thought.
Silverfox strutted to the stallion, shaking her body rather lasciviously. The stallion looked confused, but slightly enthralled. Silverfox paused in front of him, batting her eyelashes.
"Do you really want to sacrifice me?" She whispered in his ear.
The stallion blinked. "Yes."
Silverfox frowned. Perhaps subduction wasn't exactly the best solution.
"Guards!" He shouted, turning his head. "Restrain her and burn the decoy."
Silverfox's magic power was no use against the guards' sheer might. They soon had her down on the stone, barely able to move.
Another guard trotted into the room, Silverfox's hat in his mouth.
The unicorn gaped, she had just realized her head was bare.
The leading stallion strutted next to the hat-bearing guard, following him to the dais.
The guard placed the hat on the blood-stained dais while the leader grabbed a torch from the wall.
The stallion stood over the dais, casting a shadow over the circle of stone. Silverfox heard him muttering something, but she couldn't make most of the words out.
Suddenly, the stallion started shouting, eyes filled with malice. "I, AZTIXA OF THE STONE-DWELLING TRIBE, OFFER THIS SACRIFICE TO THE EARTH MOTHER GAEA!" Aztixa dropped the torch, sending her hat in flames. The cloth was soon completely engulfed, burning to ashes.
Silverfox was shaking. This could be it. Her death, burning as a sacrifice to some tribe she didn't even know existed. Toxic would die, and Catfight and Diamondshine would suffer her same fate no telling when. The unicorn hung her head.
It was useless.
As the guards let her to the dais, Silverfox was in a daze, dumbly glancing around the room. Aztixa was waiting, seemingly gleeful to burn something another soul. Silverfox glanced up, above the dais.
Her breath caught in her throat as a idea came to her. Above the dais was what seemed to be a large boulder, covered in symbols, suspended by some rock.
Just maybe, she thought to herself, trying to hide a smile, this could work.
Before the guards could finish tying her down, Silverfox ripped from the restraints, kicking the closest one in the face. Silverfox sent beams of magic into the suspensions of the rock, sending it crashing down. Levitating the Onsinian flower into her mouth, Silverfox leapt off the stone, galloping past Aztixa with a smug face. With a quick glance behind her, Silverfox saw the boulder rolling towards her, leaving a path of destruction in her wake.
She ran out of the room, not wanting to give Aztixa and his goons a chance to catch her. She came past a long hall with cells, most likely a prison.
"Diamondshine! Catfight!" She screamed. "Where are you?"
Hearing a reply at the end of the hall, Silverfox rushed to the occupied cell. She blasted the locks apart with magic, and ran, hoping her friends would have sense enough to follow. Once they saw the giant boulder, they did.
Silverfox, with her friends trailing behind her, came upon a grand room with tall ceilings. The wide doors where open, leading to the outside. Outside there was a long flight of stone steps, like the ones outside of every ancient temple in fiction.
"Silverfox, Diamondshine, I'll carry you down the steps! Use some levitation magic too!" Catfight shouted, hefting the two unicorns with her forelegs.
The pegasus launched herself off the side of the temple, taking air as she flew.
Diamondshine looked at Silverfox. "You got the flower!" He said.
"Of course I did." She said, "Why else would I have escaped that dramatically?"
Below them, Aztixa and his guards stood, yelling and snarling. When she saw red wings flash, Silverfox had a major "oh crap" moment.
"Aztixa can fly!" She screamed, pointing a hoof wildly at the red figure that was slowly gaining on them.
With a bit of a smirk, Catfight suddenly changed direction. She was heading towards a river, and was quickly descending.
"What are you doing?!" Diamondshine cried, his good legs struggling.
"Escape! What idiot would try to follow escapees into the water!" Catfight grinned.
"The idiot that flew into the water to start with!" Silverfox exclaimed, bracing herself for impact with the rushing water.
The three hit the icy water with incredible force. Silverfox was stunned, sinking below until Catfight grabbed her and pulled her head above water. She took a huge breath, making sure the flower was still in her mouth, and was pushed back under by her friend.
Diamondshine was holding onto a rock with his forelegs, trying not to get swept away. Catfight and Silverfox crouched near him, holding on for dear life.
Through the froth of the water's top, Silverfox saw Aztixa hovering above the water, then fly off. Nearly letting her breath out with relief, Silverfox motioned to Catfight. The three swam to the shore, gasping for breath.
Silverfox gave herself a hearty shake, showering Diamondshine with water. The stallion let out a little hiss very much like Aztixa, shaking his mane.
Silverfox dropped the Onsinian flower on the grass, gazing at her friends.
Catfight trotted to the plant, giving it a long hard look.
"So this is the flower that can save Toxic?" Catfight asked, poking it.
Taking it back in her mouth, Silverfox nodded. "Get ready, I am going to teleport us back. Dia, I need you to combine your magic with mine."
Diamondshine touched horns with Silverfox while Catfight took a firm hold on her tail. The three ponies disappeared with a loud pop, landing on their rump on the castle floor.
~
Embane heard the sound, knowing that Silverfox and her friends had returned.
Nuzzling his mate and son, the Prince of Equestria made his way to the throne room.
There he found the three unconscious, laying on the floor as if sleeping soundly. He saw that Silverfox had the flower in her mouth.
"Silverfox," he whispered. "Diamondshine. Catfight."
Slowly they started to rouse. Silverfox opened one green eye, gazing sleepily around. She stumbled to her feet, followed by her friends.
The ponies had a small amount of cuts on them, while Diamondshine's leg was broken.
"Embane! We got the flower!" Silverfox exclaimed, tossing the Onsinian plant to him. The alicorn caught it with magic.
The ponies rushed to Silverfox's room, where Cross and Goldenbell waited. Cross brewed the Onsinian flower into potion, making the antidote. He quickly gave it to the ill alicorn, Toxic slightly shuddering as he managed to swallow it.
"Why isn't anything happening?" Silverfox asked nervously, peering at Toxic, who still slept on feverishly.
Cross frowned. "We just gave him the medicine. You can't expect him to be up and health, can you? The antidote has to have time to mend all the damage the Black Fever did to his body. He's gonna be out for a couple days."
Silverfox blinked. "Oh. If that's the case, I'm going to sleep." She jumped in her bed, pulling the covers over her and Toxic. "What?" She asked. "I'm exhausted."
Diamondshine yawned. "I'm with Silverfox. I'm going home." Catfight nodded, following the stallion out of the room.
Embane's head sagged. "Alright. I need some sleep too. Let's leave them in peace, Goldenbell." The Prince and Princess left.
Cross looked at Silverfox, "If his fever rises, come and get me."
And with that, Silverfox finally drifted off to sleep. Before she was complete out, however, Toxic whispered one word in her ear.
"Thanks."
End of Story 6
Side Story: To Be a Noble
"Alright children, please turn to page one hundred and seventy four in your books." Said Infinity, levitating his pointer and tapping it on the desk.
Turning around to face his board, Infinity heard the tell-tale sounds of pages flipping to know his students were obeying his orders.
Infinity was a school teacher, instructing foals in all the required subjects. Although a full grown adult, he lived alone with no mate, which his students teased him endlessly about. One possible reason was because he had an odd fixation on math, it was even represented on his cutie mark. Another reason could be that Infinity was a bit anti-social, preferring the company of only his students and books.
A sudden and violent knock on the schoolhouse's door brought him to alert. Who could it be at this hour, Infinity thought. Parents didn't start coming until five ten minutes before dismissal.
Probably some over-protective parent, he thought bitterly, opening the door.
To Infinity's surprise, it wasn't. Three armed ponies ran into the room, barking orders and yelling. The biggest one, a pegasus, ran at the children, screaming about piling all of their money on a desk.
Adrenaline pulsed through the unicorn as he turned back to his board. He levitated a marker and started writing.
"You see," he lectured, "You must first subtract the thirty six before the multiply the seven. Does anyone know why?"
This took his room's attackers by surprise. An awkward silence filled the room, the burglar apparently shocked that the teacher continued to do his job.
"You," murmured Infinity gazing at the leader, glasses resting at the bridge of his snout. "Do you know? Come to the board and show me."
"Math is stupid." Muttered the pegasus.
Infinity raised his eyebrow in faux interest.
His students let out a little oh. You didn't insult Infinity's life meaning.
"Stupid?" Infinity hissed. "I think not. You use arithmetic everywhere, even in your meager lives. Now get over here and do this problem."
The pegasus looked flustered, and with some poking by his friends, he trotted to Infinity. He nervously took the marker in his mouth and started to write.
About halfway through, Infinity clicked his tongue. "No,no,no." He said, levitating the marker out of the pegasus's reach. "You must subtract first."
"Ifyou are going to interrupt my class, you might as well listen!" Infinity suddenly shouted, slamming his hoof into the intruder's head, knocking him out.
A stray clap sounded.
Infinity smiled internally. Dusty had always liked him.
The unicorn coldly glared at the others and hissed. "If you don't get out of my classroom, I will make sure you lick this room clean."
This frightened the intruders. They grabbed their buddy and rushed out the door, slamming it behind him.
Infinity sighed with relief, leaning against his desk and straightening his tie. The town had been crazy ever since the New Pony Movement had came along, with random break-ins and such.
"That was so cool!" Exclaimed one of his students, a mare. "You should sign up to be a noble!"
Infinity's face went hot, and he turned back to his board. "Of course not. I couldn't be a royal. I'm not skilled enough." He tapped the board with his pointer. "If everyone is alright, let's continue with the lesson. I hope you were listening when those goons were in here, correct?"
He heard a mixture of answers, positive and negative.
"Alright," he sighed, re-writing the problem back on the board. "Listen up, everyone. First you must subtract..."
~
"Goodbye everyone! Remember to do page one hundred and seventy six for homework!" Infinity called as his students ran out the door.
The unicorn trotted about the room, cleaning and straightening. Those burglars were not easy on his room.
Deciding the room's cleanliness was up to his standards, Infinity packed his things and started for his home. He wasn't greeted by many familiar faces, just the shopkeepers he regularly visited.
Relived he had made it home without any further interruptions, Infinity quickly entered his home.
His home was a simple one-bedroom house, with a small kitchen and study.
Fixing himself a cup of coffee, Infinity sat back in the large chair in his study.
Sighing the relief, he took a large sip, smiling slightly as the hot drink traveled down his throat.
"Mr. Infinity! I have a letter!" A voice called at his door.
Heaving himself up, Infinity stumbled to the door, opening it with magic.
A gray pegasus stood at the door, a letter firmly placed in her mouth.
"From the palace itself, sir!" She chirped happily.
Infinity took the letter with his magic, shaking it to remove any possible saliva. The unicorn tossed the mail carrier a bit, then shutting the door.
Why would the castle send me a letter, he thought as he sat down and gently cut the seal with his horn.
The letter was written on crisp parchment, but it wasn't what Infinity expected Embane's writing to be. He quickly scanned it over, then his jaw dropped.
The Prince was asking him to take the take to become a noble!
With another read-over, Infinity found that some of his students had personally told the Prince that he had what it takes.
Infinity shakily read the bottom of the page. Embane had put that he wanted to see him today!
Infinity let out a little shout, running to comb out his mane. He cleaned his glasses, and then put on his best tie- a black one with little crescent moons.
It was always best to be prepared for situations like this.
The unicorn swallowed the rest of his coffee and galloped out the door, completely defeating the purpose of combing his mane.
Panting with exhaustion, Infinity found himself at the doors of the castle. Biting his lip, he took a deep breath in anticipation. Be courteous, he reminded himself.
Entering the palace, Infinity couldn't help but be enthralled. It was beautiful, with magnificent pillars and high ceilings.
Infinity practically ran into a stocky earth pony, sending him on his rump and glasses falling to the ground.
The earth pony gazed at him in dull surprise. "Watch it." He growled.
The stallion was a darker shade of orange, with a brown mane that hung in his yellow eyes.
Infinity grabbed his glasses and whatever was left of his pride and stood up. "Ah, excuse me. I am pretty nervous, the Prince has summoned me to take the noble test."
The stallion frowned at him. "Oh. So you're the other pony." He looked him over. "I was expecting someone larger."
Infinity gritted his teeth, he wasn't exactly the most muscular unicorn out there, but he couldn't help it. At least he had his hight.
"I'll have you know that I am a accomplish scholar and teacher." He snarled back.
The earth pony laughed. "Wow, you read books. So much talent." He stamped down his leg with a odd metallic creak.
Infinity's eyes shot to the earth pony's leg. Starting under his shoulder blade, it was completely made of metal.
The earth pony caught his stare. "Stop looking at it." He snarled.
Infinity ripped his gaze away, looking flustered. "Ah-I'm sorry...!"
"I don't need your pity, unicorn. I was born like that. My sister made the prosthetic for me."
"Fine." Infinity said. "I was trying to be nice, but you aren't even thankful for the least bit of kindness!"
The stallion reared back, slamming down his hooves centimeters in front of Infinity.
"Boys, play nice." A voice dripping with sarcasm brought Infinity to attention.
Both stallions looked up to see Embane, strutting to them, flanked by guards.
"Gah- sir!" Infinity managed to stutter, falling into a clumsy bow.
The stallion beside him bow easily, still glaring at him.
Embane was frowning, staring at them like a disappointed parent. "I see you respond well with others." Infinity wasn't sure which one of them he was talking to.
"Stand up." Embane said simply. They did. "Infinity, Hatchet, you two are both in the running to become nobles. Can you tell me your talents?"
The earth pony, Hatchet, spoke first.
"I am a master weapons maker." He nodded to the silver-blades hatchet that was strapped to his waist. "I made this."
"I....." Infinity mumbled. Thinking quickly, he finished. "I teach. Very well."
Embane raised his eyebrow. "Teaching is your talent?"
"No, my talent is.." He whispered in a small voice. "Math."
Hatchet laughed out loud. "He's more miserable than I thought!"
Infinity sighed. "What is this test we have to do?"
Embane levitated a piece of paper from a nearby table. He pulled out a quill and began to write. "First," he stated. "You must go to the very end of the forest outside of the town. Next, you must track down the lair of the Cockatrice. This shouldn't be hard, as the beast has a very distinct smell. Once you find it, I need both of you to retrieve a feather from it. You don't have to kill it, just each of you has to have a feather to become a noble. Sound simple enough?"
Hatchet nodded. "Can do, sir."
Infinity wasn't as sure. "...Sure."
Embane spread his wings, smiling at both of the stallions. "I hope you get to liking each other better, you are going to be doing this together.
Infinity's mouth hung open.
"What?! No!" Hatchet cried.
"No sabotage." The alicorn strutted back up a flight of stairs, leaving the two stallions alone.
Hatchet gave Infinity a steely glare. Infinity frowned back.
"We should get going." The unicorn muttered.
~
"We should be getting close..." Infinity murmured, studying the map that a mare from the palace had given him.
The duo was deep in the forest now, searching for the cockatrice's lair.
It was a very plain forest, just trees and rare animal here and there. Hatchet seemed to be interested by the scenery, Infinity assumed this be an earth pony thing. He found it rather bland.
"So...you can do magic?" Hatchet's gruff voice said beside him.
Infinity was startled, Hatchet hasn't tried to make a causal conversation for the whole trip.
"Yes... But I'm not that good at it. I can only levitate one thing at a time." It was true. While most unicorns had tried to further advance their magic ability, Infinity had been contempt and instead pursued other types of education.
"My sister, Wysteria, is a unicorn. She's pretty good at magic. She fashioned a pair of wings for herself." He laughed to himself. "I always call her a Princess."
"What does your sister do?" Infinity asked, glad for Hatchet's surprisingly good mood.
"She's a blacksmith like me. After our mother died we took over the family business." Hatchet said, his face serious.
"I work at a school." Infinity said, feeling insignificant.
"I've done more psychical labor than you have ever in your entire life." Hatchet scoffed.
"Hey." Infinity snarled, stopping in his tracks. "You think I have it easy, but have you ever tried to control a class of thirty something foals by yourself?! What about when a foal gets sick? Who do you think has to clean it up? What about when one clearly has issues at home? Who gets to stay up at night and think about their safe being?? Who gets to stay up until three in the morning making lesson plans? I DO! Even after all that, I would die for those foals!"
Hatchet looked surprised, staring at Infinity. "I...didn't know...."
Panting after his rant, the unicorn looked him straight in the eyes. "We should keep moving."
Hatchet nodded, the duo continued moving.
Walking for about twenty minutes, Infinity stopped suddenly. Hatchet stopped beside him, looking confused.
"What is it?" He asked.
"The smell. I can smell the cockatrice."
Hatchet sniffed the air, cringing. "Ew, the rotten eggs smell?"
"I would assume. The cockatrice is part chicken."
Coming to a large cave, the duo paused.
"This has to be the lair. The smell is strongest here." Hatchet observed.
Infinity nodded, nervously taking a step into the cavern. Behind him, Hatchet drew his weapon.
A snarl mixed with a hiss sounded before them. It echoed around the cave, making it unable to track.
Infinity gasped, stepping back. Hatchet shoved past him, propelling him forward. "No turning back now," he said gruffly.
Infinity mumbled something that could have been a "yes", but still a equal chance of "crap".
The unicorn heard a slither of scales across rock, stopping him dead in his tracks. Infinity saw a snake tail disappear behind a rock.
"It's near. Remember, don't look it in the eyes." Hatchet growled beside him.
It was more then near. A scratching and a hiss alerted the two stallions of the impending danger. They just managed to leap out of the way before a grotesque creature lunged at the space they were just at.
Infinity spied the cockatrice from behind the rock he was hiding at. It was ugly, to say the least. With the upper body of a chicken and the lower part of a snake, the cockatrice was a horrifying sight. The piercing red eyes didn't decrease the scary, either.
From across the cavern, Hatchet motioned at the creature, mock swinging his weapon at a nearby stalactite.
Infinity understood. The earth pony planned on crushing the cockatrice with the rock.
"Hey, uh, chicken!" Infinity screamed, getting the monster's attention. The unicorn shut his eyes when the cockatrice turned his head, averting its deadly gaze.
He stumbled out of his safe place, screaming insults and obscenities. Infinity didn't want to know what his students would think of him at this moment.
The cockatrice stayed in one place, confused.
Infinity could hear the clinking of the rock as Hatchet dug into it, trying to slice it in half. He prayed the earth pony could sever it before the cockatrice snapped out of its confusion.
A sudden crack answered his prayers. He heard the cry of the monster and a awful crunch as the rock fell.
"You can open your eyes now." Hatchet said, striding beside him.
Infinity opened, and saw the beast trapped under a thick chunk of rock. It was still alive, he could hear and see it squirming around.
"Better get a scale now." Infinity said, moving towards the snake part of the cockatrice, far away from the deadly eyes.
Infinity and Hatchet both pulled a scale, jumping in surprise when they realized how sharp it was.
"Gah!" Hatchet cried, throwing the scale out of his mouth. His lips slightly bled.
Infinity found the unicorn solution. Throwing it in the air, small amounts of blood traveling with it, he caught it with magic. Despite its sharpness, it was lightweight and small.
"Lucky." Hatchet growled.
"Let's get back to the castle." Infinity said, not wishing to start another fight.
The two left the cave, following a small path that led beside a river. It was a pretty long drop, leading into the pulsing water below.
Suddenly, Hatchet looked at Infinity in alarm.
"Do you smell that?" He asked.
Rotten eggs.
Hearing a slight sound behind him, Infinity leaped in the other direction, shouting in shock when the cockatrice, bruised and slightly bloody, tackled Hatchet, wrapping its snake-like body around him.
"I thought we trapped you!" Infinity screamed.
The cockatrice didn't notice that the unicorn had spoken.
Hatchet was desperately trying to reach his weapon, but to no avail. The cockatrice had made sure it had covered the hatchet with its snaky coils.
Hatchet let out a choked scream as the creature slowly dragged him, nearing the edge of the bank.
Infinity's mind was racing. What could he attack the cockatrice with? He wasn't that strong, he couldn't pry the beast's body apart with his bare hoofs.
The scale, he thought.
Biting his tongue, Infinity thought about giving up his ticket to noble-hood. Did he really want to sacrifice that for some stallion he had just met?
But I can't let him die, his mind argued, his ears twitching at Hatchet crazed cries.
Clenching his eyes shut, part not wanting to get petrified and part not wanting to see himself throw away the scale, Infinity throw the sharp scale.
Allowing himself a peek, he saw the scale imbed itself into the cockatrice's neck, the creature throwing its head back it agony. It released Hatchet, stumbling back toward the bank. The creature fell back, seconds later Infinity heard the tell-tale splash and knew that the beast was dead now.
Suddenly, everything that had just happened crashed onto Infinity. He fell on his haunches, in shock. Infinity could believe that he had just fought and killed a magical creature. He couldn't believe that he had just tossed away his scale for Hatchet's life.
"Infinity? Are you ok?" Hatchet was beside him, waving his hoof in front of Infinity's temporarily blank eyes.
The unicorn shook his head, motioning to the scale in Hatchet's mouth.
"Oh... That's how you killed the cockatrice." He whispered. He placed an arm around him. "I'll try my best to defend you."
~
"Congratulations, Hatchet. You have become the royal weapons maker. I look forward to my guards using your weapons in the future." Embane observed Infinity, who had been silent the entire trip home. "I'm sorry, Infinity. You have failed the test. You can travel back to your house now."
Infinity mutely nodded, dangerously on the verge of tears. He turned and started to walk to the door.
"Wait! Sir!" Hatchet cried. Infinity looked up in surprise. "Infinity had a scale! He did! But the cockatrice attacked us again..and he killed it with the scale. Please, just make an exception! He deserves it!"
Embane raised his eyebrow. "Infinity, is this correct?"
"Yes sir."
To his surprise, Embane patted him on the head.
"If that's the case, congratulations, Infinity. You are in charge of the education of Equestria." Embane said gently.
Infinity smiled brightly, bowing at Embane's hoofs. "Thank you! Thank you!"
The Prince shuffled uncomfortableness. "It's ok, it really is. You can go home and get your stuff, both of you. You are going to be living here now. I will find you a room."
Infinity and Hatchet nodded, excited.
~
"Alright everyone!" Infinity called to his classroom. "Put your homework on my desk!"
As his students came to his desk and deposited papers with various amounts of writing on it, Dusty and a unicorn foal tapped him on it shoulder.
"Yes?" He asked, whist checking the other student's work.
Dusty was smiling brightly. "Mr. Infinity, did you see what I said to the Prince?"
"I really appreciate it, Dusty."
Silverfox tightened her scarf and shivered slightly.
It was winter, the season the entire country celebrated Embane's defeat of Nightmare. While different parts of Equestria had big parties, Eclipse by far had the biggest celebration. The party went on for entire week, and barely anyone slept.
Foals pretended to be generals and played war while the much older ponies swapped stores passed down from family to family. Even the young adults got in on the fun, making art and selling their products in stands.
Silverfox had no interest in selling books right now, mostly because of the last time she tried to and in respect of Toxic. Unlike the rest, the royal family didn't celebrate. Goldenbell and Embane mourned for the loss of life during the war and the stress of the fight, while Toxic just mimicked his parents.
"C'mon, Silverfox!" Catfight said through a candied apple. "Embane's gonna do his speech soon!"
Every winter, at the end of the celebration, Embane would give a speech about the Great Alicorn War. It tended to be long-winded and a bit boring. Silverfox found it slightly interesting, especially when Embane mentioned the actual fighting.
Silverfox had found a newfound respect for the rulers when she, Toxic, and Cross had traveled into Embane's memories.
"Right." Silverfox murmured, shivering slightly.
The duo walked through the throng of ponies, trying to get as close to the front of the stage,that had been set up near the center of town,as possible.
Settling right at the feet of the stage, Silverfox admired the work of the decorator ponies. Grand curtains had been strung up over the stage, adored with little moons and stars that shimmered brightly in the approaching nighttime.
"Hey, Catfight! Silverfox! Over here!" Diamondshine cried, waving wildly at them.
Diamondshine was wearing a nice tie, with Toxic standing beside him. The alicorn looked slightly excited, ready for his father's speech.
Silverfox smiled, the unicorn and her friend trotting over to the two stallions.
The entire audience hushed when Embane, followed by Goldenbell, walked onto the stage. Silverfox noticed he was swaying ever so little. She just assumed the Prince had drunken a little too much at the feast earlier.
"Welcome, mares and stallions, to the final night of the Great Alicorn War celebration. If it's your first day here, we are here to remember and celebrate the victory against Nightmare's forces so many years ago. Despite how gleeful we are about the win, please still do not forgot about the hundreds of lives lost during the fighting." Embane narrowed his eyes. "The battle was sheet bloodshed. Ponies were slain right and left. Nightmare's soldiers knew no bounds for killing."
Silverfox found herself lost in the speech. She remember the vicious killings of Embane's flashback and shuddered. The image of the earth pony being eaten alive burned in her mind.
"But please," Embane continued, looking slightly cheerier. Silverfox noticed through the grin he was gritting his teeth. "Remember we are safe! Nightmare is gone!"
"Equestria is-" Suddenly, Embane dry heaved, falling on his knees. Gasps rippled through the audience. Goldenbell wrapped a wing around her mate and supported him against her side.
"Citizens! No need to be alarmed." Her calming voice rang out. "Embane simply isn't feeling well right now. Continue on with your celebration. We will go to the palace and I will ensure that the Prince gets some rest."
The white alicorn trotted off stage, Cross emerging from the large group and following them.
Toxic looked shocked at all that had just gone on.
"We should follow." Diamondshine said, the group nodded and ran after the nobles.
When they arrived, Embane was pacing the marble floors of the throne room while Goldenbell desperately tailed him.
Toxic ran to his parents. "What happened?!" He cried.
Embane sighed. "I have been feeling horrible all day. I'm not sure what is wrong, but I know there is something abnormal with it."
Goldenbell levitated a blanket over the Prince's shoulders. "You should just sit down, alright? Then we can figure something out."
"Something is going bad! I can feel it!" Hissed Embane, shaking.
The sound of the large doors creaking open alerted everyone in the room. Heads turned as a small alicorn fluttered into the room.
Silverfox, Cross, Embane, Toxic, and Goldenbell gasped.
It was Taijitsu!
But the Prince wasn't the grand stallion Silverfox and co had seen before. Taijitsu was foal-sized, a miniature version of himself. He was slicked in sweat, panting heavily.
The Prince of Mystic Falls let out a little groan and started to lose air.
"Sir!" Cried Goldenbell, catching him with her white colored magic.
Embane stared in horror at the small foal. "Father?!"
"Father?!" Diamondshine and Catfight cried in unison, clearly not caught up in the situation.
"Yes," Murmured Embane. "This is Taijitsu, my father and Prince of Mystic Falls." He turned to Cross. "Cross, can you please take him to a bed and tend to him? He's miserable."
The doctor nodded.
~
"You have a lot of explaining, father." Embane said, staring at Taijitsu.
The alicorn had been carried to Cross's room and laid on a bed. Cross had coaxed some medicine down Taijitsu's throat, hoping to sooth his fever.
Taijitsu struggled to open his eyes.
"Ah, son." He looked around. "You have a nice place here. Why haven't I visited earlier?" He ended with a quiet giggle.
Embane frowned. "What is wrong? I can feel that something is. You have been sick like me."
Taijitsu grew serious.
"Mystic Falls is dying."
"What?!" Embane screamed, the effort causing him to lean onto Goldenbell for balance.
Everyone- Silverfox, Diamondshine, Toxic, Catfight, Cross, and Goldenbell- was in shock. Most of them didn't quite know the gravity of the situation, but Embane's reaction was enough.
Taijitsu nodded, shuffling under the blanket. "The water of the falls is being poisoned by something unknown. Naturally, since we are the most direct bloodline, we are feeling it the worst."
Goldenbell frowned. "Why am I and Toxic not feeling sick or anything?"
Taijitsu turned on his side, facing the ponies. "Embane turned you into a alicorn, right? Therefore you are not of a direct bloodline. I believe you aren't even originally from Mystic Falls. That should answer your question." He looked Toxic. "And this little guy, apparently my grandchild, isn't a full alicorn. He's got the horn and wings, but about the magic ability of a talented unicorn. I'm not even sure if he will inherit the immortality."
Silverfox shuffled closer to her alicorn friend. She had tried not to think what would happen if Toxic really was immortal. She didn't think the good-natured stallion could take having to see his companions die around him. She hated to think it, but Silverfox hoped Toxic wasn't immortal.
Embane was chewing his lip nervously. "Alright, that explains some. But why are you a foal?"
"Oh, that's the simplest part of it." Taijitsu said in a sing-song voice. His horn lighted with magic, split between black and white, and a cup of tea appeared out of nowhere. He took a slight sip before continuing. "Since my kingdom is dying, I have been effected the most. My powers have been cut greatly. This form wastes the least of my energy."
Embane glared. "You shouldn't be using your magic for stupid reasons like that!" He said, eyes shooting daggers at the little porcelain cup.
Taijitsu shrugged, sipping some of the steamy tea. "I might as well enjoy it while I am strong enough to do so."
Suddenly, the alicorn's eyes grew wide. He choked and spluttered, the cup disappearing.
"Gah! Father!" Embane shouted, only to be taking over by the same aliment.
Goldenbell was quick on the scene, helping to sit the Prince on the floor while Cross went to Taijitsu.
Silverfox looked around, not sure what to do and feeling helpless. "What...what should we do?" She murmured.
Toxic shrugged. The alicorn looked rather sad. Smiling, Catfight went to him and wrapped a wing around him.
"It'll be okay. Look on the bright side, you get to see your granddad!" She chirped.
Diamondshine nodded, giving Toxic a little pat on the shoulder. "She's right. Taijitsu seems pretty nice."
Silverfox finished the friendship moment, hugging her companion.
Goldenbell trotted to the friends, warmly smiling at them. "I would like you to join me in the throne room. Can you wait for me there while I assemble the rest of the nobles?" The alicorn
went out the door, going down the stairs.
Silverfox looked at her companions. "We should get going." She said.
The group started out the door, Toxic first bidding farewell to his father.
Arriving in the throne room, they found Goldenbell, Radar, Ellar, and the new nobles, Infinity and Hatchet.
"As I was saying," Goldenbell said, "we need to travel to Mystic Falls to find the source of the problem."
Infinity looked flustered. "Is something potentially life-threatening always here!?"
"Yes," Silverfox answered for Goldenbell, strutting into the room. "And my group volunteers." Diamondshine, Catfight, and Toxic nodded in agreement.
Radar raised his hoof in the air dramatically, fluttering in the air. "I'll go! I can send a small team of Wingblasts, too."
Hatchet, the earth pony, grinned. "I'll go. Might as well make my first mission grand."
Ellar meekly raised his hoof. "I guess I can assist."
Goldenbell nodded her head. "Good. We have a sizable group now. I will assemble some castle guards and then we can prepare to leave."
"Is Father and Taijitsu coming with us?" Toxic asked.
"I believe so. They will know the most about Mystic Falls."
~
Silverfox shuffled in the blanketed floor of the carriage. They had left some time ago, but Goldenbell had told her they still had hours to go until the group even reached the half-way point. She was miserable. Toxic and Catfight had decided to fly above the carriage with Radar and the other Wingblasts, and Hatchet wanted to walk with the palace guards outside, so all she had for company was Diamondshine, Ellar, Cross, and Infinity.
Clearly the most fun group of individuals.
"So..ah...you're a noble, huh?" Infinity spoke up for the first time.
Silverfox shook her head. "Nope, I just open letters and write stuff." She pointed at the golden unicorn sitting beside her. "He doesn't even do that. We are just Toxic's friends."
"But you live here."
"I don't have anywhere else to live."
"I felt bad for Toxic's little friend, okay?" Embane murmured near them. The alicorn was awake now, crouching on the blankets, blinking from sleepiness after his recent nap. Taijitsu was curled along his body.
"Aw, Embane. You do care." Silverfox faux cooed.
"Yes," Embane snarked. "Because I was just overwhelmed with sympathy when you came to my doorstop practically holding a 'Will Work For Food' sign."
"I love you too." Silverfox hissed.
~
"Do you see anything, Catfight?" Toxic asked, peering over the horizon.
Catfight squinted, checking if she could see Mystic Falls over the horizon.
Many hours had passed, with only a short amount of break time. But Catfight barely felt the aching in her wings. She was too excited.
The pegasus couldn't believe she was going to the sacred land where alicorns came from. It was incredible.
"Nothing." She quickly said, realizing Toxic had wanted an answer.
"'Doubt there will be anything interesting for a while. Goldenbell says we still got a good hour or two." On her left, Radar flapped his strong wings, wind rustling the short jacket he wore.
Toxic's head slumped with impatience, the alicorn's green-tipped wings twitching in flight.
"You're not used to flying long-distances, are you Prince?" Radar laughed. "I remember when my team and I had to track a group of bandits for thousands of miles..."
Catfight spaced out, pretty sure she had already heard this story from Radar. The pegasus sure knew how to pass time, constantly blabbering about past experiences. She hadn't first understood why his team groaned when Radar started talking, but after four hours she got the message quickly. Being honest, his stories were interesting, but one can only speak of slaying dragons so long before it gets old. Catfight was sorta glad for the variation.
After about two hours, Radar's right hand stallion, Scout, cried out.
"Mystic Falls! Visible in the horizon!" The grey pegasus called.
Toxic looked hopeful, face suddenly becoming brighter.
Beside Catfight, Radar called up ahead. "How far?!"
"A couple miles!" Scout screamed back, black mane flopping around in the wind.
Catfight immediately saw the massive castle that marked Mystic Falls.
It was grand, a tall silvery whitish tower surrounded by slightly smaller towers. A large town spread out around the castle, houses and shops making little dots on the ground. Oddly, she saw no tiny dots that represented the inhabiters of the town.
Catfight glanced at Toxic, who was still enthralled by the beautiful city. "You want to go in the carriage and see Silverfox and Diamondshine? They might enjoy our company."
Toxic smiled and nodded, the two ponies landed in the open back of the cart, where they found Diamondshine and Silverfox snuggled against each other, deep in sleep.
Catfight nearly woke them, but Cross's eye fluttered open.
"I wouldn't do that. Let them sleep. Why don't you two take a little nap with them? You must be tired after all that flying. I have no idea what's going to happen once we get to the castle, so I would suggest we are all well rested." The doctor nodded to the sleeping forms of Ellar, Embane, Goldenbell, and Taijitsu. He yawned. "If you excuse me, I'm going to get some more sleep." Cross laid his head back down, eye drooping as he fell asleep.
Toxic too yawned and stretched his wings and shoulders. "Cross is right. I'm exhausted." The alicorn settled down beside Silverfox.
Left without any other choice, Catfight curled up next to Diamondshine, laying her head on his warm body.
~
Silverfox awoke with the slight sensation of being carried. Not wanting to wake up just yet, the unicorn shut her eyes and tried to dose off again.
She sort of succeeded. Silverfox had managed to be half-conscious and half-asleep. She only fully awoke when she was laid on a hard, cold floor.
Silverfox let out a little groan, standing up and taking in her surroundings. She instantly recognized it.
They had arrived at Mystic Falls.
The castle hasn't changed much. The bright, marble pillars decorated the room, which appeared to be the entrance, judging by the large doors behind them, and silky blue curtains hung around them. The floor was a smooth, moonstone-like material, and seemingly had smaller, multi-colored stones pressed into it. When the sun shone on it, the effect was mesmerizing.
Goldenbell, followed by Embane, trotted into view. Taijitsu was on her back, forelegs wrapped around her neck. Cross, Ellar, Radar, Hatchet, Infinity, a group of palace guards, and some Wingblasts were at her heels.
"Isn't it beautiful? It's just like I remember." She murmured, looking at the views in wonder.
Ellar frowned. "It's not fair. I can't see it." The seer's blind eyes blinked furiously, as if that would restore sight.
Beside Silverfox, Catfight gaped. "Crap, you're missing a lot, Ellar."
The pegasus groaned.
Moving his head from Goldenbell's mane, Taijitsu stirred. "We should get to the throne room. I'm afraid my castle's beauty vanishes there."
As Silverfox found out, Taijitsu was very much right. Where the shimmering waterfall once was a scary sight filled its place. The water was a sickly shade of green, and brown streaks pulsed though its core. A smell of death radiated off it.
Embane paused in front of the room, eyes rapidly taking in the scene.
"F-Father, what happened here?" He gasped.
Taijitsu's eyes darkened. "I have no idea. A couple days ago, I had a blackout. Once I recovered, I realized something was wrong with the water. No one would even dare to drink out of it and it had taken on an ugly tint. The next day I awoke feeling rather sick."
Catfight glanced around, nervous. "Where is everyone? I mean, it's a castle...it's so quiet." Her voice went off into a whisper.
"That's another problem," Taijitsu said. "Once the water became like that, I noticed all of the ponies living here had fallen into a mysterious slumber. I couldn't wake them up." He took a shaky breath. "I was left alone. After some time, I couldn't take the loneliness anymore. My illness was getting worse. I had to make the travel to Eclipse."
Everyone in the room was silent, taking in the information. Finally, Goldenbell spoke.
"Toxic, your talent is poison. Do you think you can figure out what's in the water?"
Toxic nodded, taking small steps to the branching river. He leaned down, giving the water a curt sniff. Toxic quickly went to the side, gagging a bit.
Silverfox watched with wonder. She had never really seen Toxic work with poison, his talent hadn't been handy around the castle.
After thinking for about forty seconds, Toxic looked up. "I can't find out what the type of poison is, but I know that whatever-or whoever- is poisoning it is still here."
The entires group gasped, jumping back in surprise. "Where is it?!"
Embane shouted.
Toxic blinked, pointing a hoof at the water. "There."
"Get away from there!" Goldenbell shouted, lifting her son with magic and dumping him by her side.
This turned out to be just in time. Just as Toxic was delivered to the Princess's side, a dark shape appeared in the thickest part of the river, at the base of the waterfall. Two glowing green eyes illuminated at the surface.
Silverfox watched with horror as a huge creature burst out of the water.
It was huge, vaguely pony shaped and covered in murky green scales. Instead of hind legs, a long fish-like tail snaked out.
The creature heaved itself halfway up, glaring at the group through a disheveled greenish mane. A sharp-toothed shined on its face.
"Ah, Taijitsu." It snarled, looking straight at the small alicorn. "You came back."
Taijitsu pulled himself in the air, magic rippling through his horn.
"Who are you?" He hissed.
"I?" The creature laughed. "I am Kelpie. The new ruler of Mystic Falls."
"What are you talking about?! This is my palace!"
Kelpie smirked. "Once I fully poison your precious waterfall, you and your subjects will be dead. Then I will take control of Mystic Falls and become Prince!"
"What if we stop you before that happens?!" Radar growled, flying in the air with rage.
Goldenbell held him back, frowning. "Shh, Radar." She hissed.
"Well, reckless pegasus, to answer your question, I doubt you will stop me. The only one that could match my power would be Ms. Pretty Princess over here, but I'm pretty sure she can't up me in combat." Goldenbell gasped in surprise. "Now, now." He continued. "I must work in peace."
Kelpie's eyes glowed, and two huge waves of water was lifted up into the air. With a roar, the waves rushed towards the group.
"Quickly!" Taijitsu cried, jumping on Goldenbell's neck. "Follow my lead, there's a place we can hide!" The group ran after Goldenbell, led the way by Taijitsu, down a long flight of stairs.
As they ran, Silverfox tried to take in the scenery. Marvelous vases and paintings adjourned the walls, but it abruptly stopped when they arrive at a dark hallway.
The unicorns of the group took it upon themselves to light the way with their horns, which Silverfox was grateful for her magic. It was pretty dark down there.
Taijitsu pointed down the hallway, indicating another flight of steps, these made of dark, damp stone.
"There is a safe room down there." He explained.
Silverfox watched Embane in front of her as they descended down the dark steps. Since the passage was narrow, they were forced to go down in one long chain. The alicorn was stumbling, his health obvious not faring well. Behind her, Toxic let out a little gasp when the Prince nearly fell.
"You okay there, Embane?" Silverfox whispered, trying to keep a sarcastic tone.
The dark alicorn laughed. "Not really. Just trying to keep on my hooves. I can't wait to reach this 'safe room'."
The group came to the end of the flight. The room they arrived in really didn't look like a safe room. It was dark, gloomy and very uninviting. Silverfox spotted a couple cobwebs in the corner of the room.
Radar, Ellar grabbing onto to him, basically said what was on everyone's minds. "This looks more like a dungeon."
A couple of Wingblast shuffled nervously, murmuring in agreement.
In the side of the room, Embane collapsed with a sigh of relief.
"Embane, are you alright?" Goldenbell said, kneeling down next to her mate.
The Prince weakly shook his head. "I just need some rest."
The Princess nodded, letting Taijitsu down then standing up, dusting herself off. She started back towards the stairway, folding her wings to her sides.
"Mother, where are you going?" Toxic asked, following the elegant alicorn.
Goldenbell turned, allowing herself a determined smile. "Kelpie challenged me to a battle. I simply can't walk out on that, can I? Of course, I had to make sure my subjects were okay first, but now I must meet Kelpie. That monster was right. I'm the only one who can face him. It's my responsibility to face him and win back Mystic Falls." She patted her son on the head. "Please stay here and keep everyone safe, alright?"
And with that, the Princess was gone.
~
Goldenbell made her way into the throne room. It was her duty to defeat Kelpie. Everyone relied on her to kill that creature.
She came to the base of the waterfall, where Kelpie had first appeared.
"Kelpie!" She called. "I am here to take upon your challenge!"
Two glowing eyes met her. The familiar form met her, heaving himself halfway out of the water.
"You..." He hissed. "You came to fight me?"
"Yes."
"I'd rather not. Just take your little friends and get out of here, mare." Kelpie disappeared into the murky water.
Gritting her teeth, Goldenbell rose into the air, firing a bolt of magic into the poisonous water. "Get out here and face me like a stallion!" She roared.
In response to her shout, Kelpie rose, coming completely out of the water.
The creature was even uglier out of the water. Kelpie's scales were slimy out of water, some sort of mucus constantly slid off them, most likely keeping him hydrated. His fish tail flicked back and forth, sending slime everyone. His two front legs were stocky, surprisingly holding up his entire body. Two green eyes glowered at her beneath a seaweed-like mane.
"You want a fight?!" He snarled, showing off razor fangs. "I'll give you a fight!"
Two waves of poison water came at her, Goldenbell quickly flew into the air to dodge it. She fired a magic beam mid-flight. Kelpie slid with surprising speed back into the water, the beam missing him completely.
"No you don't!" She said, shooting beams of magic into the river in a frenzy. Kelpie threw himself out of the river, teeth gnashing. Goldenbell had made the mistake of getting too close, earning a good sized bite wound on her side. She screamed in rage, head-butting Kelpie, horn and all.
The creature slid of the floor, blood streaming from its neck and chest area where the alicorn's horn had connected with him. Before she could react, Kelpie lunged back into the water, then jumped straight back out.
Goldenbell gasped. His wound was healed!
I have to keep him out of the water, then, she thought.
Staying a good distance from the river, she cried, "Hey, Kelpie! Over here!"
Sharp teeth gritting with frustration, Kelpie did a awkward, but still fast, lumber toward her.
Once he was in range, Goldenbell hit him flat on with a magic beam, temporarily stunning him. Knowing she didn't have much time to act, Goldenbell made a magic bubble around them. It was inescapable- one of them was going to have to die.
Goldenbell planned on wining.
Realizing what she had done, Kelpie came at her new gusto, tackling her full on. His eyes glowed, huge walls of water flooded the room, but the magic shield stayed strong.
Side aching and blood streaming, Goldenbell decided to show some true alicorn power. Her gold eyes lighted up, and the combatants were both encased in a bright light. All the light blew up, the mini explosion still not breaking the magic bubble. Kelpie was thrown back, scratched and panting.
Goldenbell pushed herself to her hoofs, her curling mane keeping out of her eyes.
"Regret fighting me now?" She said, her voice cold as steel.
"Never!" Kelpie roared, running at her again.
Goldenbell soared into the air, firing a beam of magic. It was a good hit, sending him sprawling. Goldenbell returned to the ground, feeling the exhaustion from the fight. She was feeling a bit woozy from both the blood that stained her white coat and the large amounts of magic she had used.
"Looking a rough there, Princess. Want to stop?" Kelpie snarled.
Goldenbell laughed, shaking blood from her side. "I can heal too, Kelpie." She touched her horn to the wound and skin started to stretch over her side, fur quickly growing. Soon she was completely healed, but more woozy.
Kelpie gritted his teeth in concentration, and water droplets suddenly began forming in the air. It continued to grow and grow, until a huge amount of water was suspended above Kelpie.
"I don't just have to use the river to attack." He hissed, tail flicking. "I can use the water in the air."
Goldenbell's face turn to one of utter horror. The water zoomed toward her, rushing with a roar.
Goldenbell focused, gathering her magic at her horn. Right before the water touched her face, she caught it with a levitation spell. Due to her weakness, the alicorn knew she couldn't hold it long. She shot a magic beam at it, the water exploding into a fine mist.
The mare staggered on her hooves nearly falling over. She had to end this fight now.
Goldenbell galloped at Kelpie, horn pointed at him and screaming. Kelpie had no where to run.
With a cringe-worthy crash, Goldenbell slammed Kelpie into the edges of her shield, horn running into his chest.
Seeing that the creature was still alive, Goldenbell drew back, slinging blood off her horn like a sword. She choked, immediately knowing she couldn't go on any longer. The alicorn dropped onto her knees, watching with horror as the shield around them collapsed.
Kelpie stayed in one place, blood flowing from his mouth and chest. He glared at Goldenbell with cold, green eyes.
"It seems we have reached a stand-still." Goldenbell said, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Kelpie hissed at her words, pushing himself into a run towards her. Goldenbell gasped in shock, desperately trying to stand up to fight.
Managing to get to her hooves, Goldenbell ran at the Kelpie, focusing all of her strength into a head-butt aimed directly at his neck. She hit him with a sickening crack, and Goldenbell knew that she had broken his neck.
Kelpie made a little choking sound, body falling limply to the floor.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Goldenbell fell to the floor. Through half-closed eyes, she watched as the water started to purify, turning crystal clean.
"Wow..." A small voice whispered. Goldenbell looked behind her to see Toxic, followed by the entire group that was supposed to be in the safe room.
Taijitsu strutted in front of Toxic, the foal-sized alicorn starting to glow. To her surprise, Taijitsu grew to his full size, tall and proud.
"Thank you, Goldenbell. I couldn't have done that without you." He said, giggling.
"Your welcome, but I want to go home." She muttered.
Embane came to her side, helping her up. "I hope you won't to be weak tonight." He said playfully, wrapping his wing around her.
"Oh~" She purred.
Toxic blinked, then looked disgusted. "EW! NO. MOTHER, FATHER, PLEASE NO." He shouted, hugging Silverfox, trying to remove the image of his parents mating from his mind.
"I believe this would be a good time to start off for home." Cross said, a smile playing on his mouth.
End of story seven.
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Story 8: The Oddest Experiences in Babysitting
Story 8- The Oddest Experiences in Babysitting
Radar groaned as he watched Ellar stumble around the forest.
He had been given the responsibility of taking care of the blind stallion for the day, and Radar was hating it deeply.
Ellar, for lack of better words, was stupid, lethally so. The seer was set on bitting, touching, smelling, and licking all of his surroundings. He had some sort of excuse, because of his lack of sight, that's about all Ellar could do to interact with the world. But really, could he just resist from biting that large poisonous snake?
"Ellar! Get over here!" Radar called, trying to retrieve the pegasus, who had strayed a bit to far from him.
Radar had decided to take the walk in the forest, so he could at least enjoy the scenery.
Ellar awkwardly fluttered to Radar, only flying a few feet.
The scraggly pegasus looked at Radar, glazed over eyes shimmering.
"Can we play tag?"
Radar's brow furrowed. He waved his hooves in the air in a over dramatic manner. "I have better things to be doing than to play tag!"
Ellar frowned. "Please? No one ever plays with me..."
Radar wanted to say that's because you are a grown stallion, but he kept his mouth shut. Ellar looked absolutely pitiful.
He must be pretty lonely, Radar thought, not really having any friends. His features relaxed, and he smiled slightly.
"I guess I can clear my schedule a bit." Radar said. "But only for a a few minutes."
Ellar smiled brightly. "Ok! You hide, then I will find and tag you!"
Radar was pretty sure that wasn't how tag was played, but he went on and found a hiding place in the forest.
Despite this being only a game, his Wingblast training stuck in his mind. Radar camouflaged himself in the branches and leaves, obscuring the pegasus from view. Radar narrowed his eyes, focusing on everything around him. He was going to win this game. Thinking it over, Radar wasn't sure he could even win the game, as Ellar was the only one who could tag.
But the pegasus's pride was pretty large, so Radar was sure he could find a way.
A rustle in the bushes and a sudden pain in his wing tip alerted him. Radar whipped back, coming muzzle to muzzle with Ellar. The blind stallion's teeth was firmly locked on his wing.
"Tag."
Radar was in shock. "How did you-what-how..!" He condensed into incoherent blubbering.
Ellar smiled stupidly. "You seemed really distracted. I decided to act!" He fluttered in the air and kicked. "Wasn't I stealthy? Wingblast material?"
Radar nearly laughed. Ellar was a far cry from "Wingblast material". But still, Ellar had snuck up on him and managed to tag him. Was Radar that distracted?
"Yeah, yeah. Are you done with your walk? Have you had enough fresh air?" Radar said, ready to leave, wings twitching with impatience. During his training, Radar had been dismissed as a over-hyper hothead with more bark than bite. But during those years, he had climbed the leadership ladder, eventually becoming the commander and being over the ponies who had said that about him. Radar liked to imagine they were eating large quantities of crow.
Ellar shuffled on his hooves. "Well... It's a really pretty day outside and..." He trailed off.
Radar frowned. He was a bit mad, as he had much more important things to do, but another side of him felt sympathy. He hasn't exactly realized how lonely Ellar was. The pegasus barely ventured out of his room, only to cook and attend meetings for nobles. Radar wondered what Ellar even did in his room, at least until today, when Embane had requested that he fetch the seer. Radar had found the scraggly stallion in a large, dark room, with a roundish bed in the corner. Most curious of all was the main spectacle of the room- a huge, clear pool of water sat in the middle of his bedroom. Radar had questioned him on it, Ellar had replied he finds water calming and it helps bring on visions. This confused him, he would assume that psychically seeing the water would enhance his "sight", but Ellar was obviously blind as a bat.
"Actually," Ellar said shyly. "I wanted to shadow you while you instruct the Wingblasts."
Radar's shoulders dropped. He had made himself willing to explore the forest for another hour or so, but the idea of showing Ellar off to his team had his stomach churn. Like most nobles, Ellar was seen as slightly unapproachable. They were respected as royalty, but not as much as the Prince and Princess. Radar tried to avoid this problem by being open with his team, but Ellar was a completely different situation. Constantly mumbling about the future, using his other four senses to identify ponies, and frequently having visions could set some ponies off from being his friend.
But still, Ellar was his responsibility for the day.
Before he could respond, his wing twitched. His internal "radar" was going off.
Hearing wing beats behind him, Radar let out a battle cry and back-kicked his attacker. Turning around to find their identity, he found his right hand stallion, Scout, lying on the ground.
"Holy crap, Scout! Don't sneak up on me like that!" Radar cried.
He felt bad for Scout. Never a truly outgoing pony, Scout had worked silently and diligently up to Radar's second. He had been assisted by his late friend Twistedcloud, who had helped him speak his mind and have courage. Scout had never been the same after seeing her gristly murder. Radar knew it personality, he had been sort of a therapist to Scout, talking with him at night and such. Judging by the sounds of the pegasus's cries and mutters during his sleep, Scout was still haunted by her killing.
Radar gave him a soft prod in the stomach as the rest of his private squadron landed before him. Scout sleepily open his eyes, Radar figured his kick had only temporally stunned him.
Up on his hooves, Scout flicked his mane to the other side of his face. "Uh, Radar, who is this?" He pointed Ellar, he had been lying in a bed of sweet-smelling flowers.
Radar looked around. He could practically feel the eyes of his teammates burning holes in him. "That's... Ellar." He said, trying to keep his friendly facade.
Ellar perked at his name. He trotted straight to Scout, and before he could warm him or Ellar, the seer stuck his nose right in Scout's mane. Scout's look of horror had to be seen to be believed, he had a bit of problem being touched.
"Mmmm....you smell like Radar. You must be close to him. His second in command?" Ellar murmured, ceasing sniffing Scout. He then wrapped his forelegs around the quivering grey stallion, giving him a warm hug. "You are a Wingblast!"
Radar dragged Ellar away from Scout, gripping him by the scruff. Scout looked at him with shocked eyes, mouthing something along the of "Who is this I don't even".
"You're friend is a bit touchy-feelly, Radar." A burly pegasus named Terran said, stepping forward and hitting Radar on the shoulder.
Radar had never really liked Terran, that stallion was power-hungry. He desperately wanted Radar's position, even going to the point of asking him to hand over the leadership role while he was ill. He nearly had it that time too, if it wasn't for Scout asking him when he had gotten Radar's signature.
Radar shot the red stallion a warning glare, then turning to address his squad. "What was your reason for seeing me? I'm pretty sure you guys don't love me enough to just to visit me in your free time."
Ridley, a reliable female Wingblast, spoke. "Some ponies had been complaining of some kind of monster in the forests not far from here. We needed our team leader, so we went to the castle. Embane told us you would most likely be in the forest." She paused. "But I see you must be busy."
Radar shook his head. "No, no, no!" He exclaimed. "I can lead! Lets go kill that creature!" He flew in the air for emphasis.
Ellar came to his side, smiling. "I can go to! That will be fun...."
The Wingblasts went silent.
Radar gathered his team, sliding away from Ellar. "You see," he whispered, "I have to babysit Ellar today. Embane's orders. Just humor him." His squad nodded in agreement.
"Alright, team," Radar shouted, prepping his wings for flight. Scout joined his side. "Get ready to fly." He gestured at Ellar. "You too." Ellar mimicked him, stretching his rather scrawny white wings. "Ridley, get beside me. You're are navigator since you know where this monster is."
"Wait." Logic hit Radar during his prepping. "You guys brought bedrolls and supplies, right?"
The majority of the squad motioned to their backs, were said supplies were securely strapped.
Scout gently tapped his shoulder. "I made sure we packed for you, too."
Ellar frowned. "Where will I sleep?"
"Uh..." Radar looked at him. "I guess with me."
Throwing away thoughts of the future, Radar focused on the present. Find the thing, whatever it was, kill it, go home. Preferably in a day or less. Radar had paperwork to force Silverfox to do.
Radar and his squad, joined awkwardly by Ellar, got into final formation and took flight.
Turns out that the desired location was a bit farther out than Radar intended, as the sun was setting by the time the group touched down in the area. Ridley had warmed she had no idea what the creature was, so they had to take caution.
Unrolling his sleeping bag, Radar glanced at his squad. They all kept to theirselves, setting up their own sleeping places wordlessly. He admired them, the team had been hand picked and given extra training from him. To his other side, Ellar sat, brushing his hooves through his unruly mane. He was singing some kind of song, after listening to it for a minute Radar recognized it as the old foal tune, "The Tale of Three Brothers". It was a rather creepy song, but it somehow fit Ellar.
"Hey, Scout!" Radar exclaimed, getting the grey stallion's attention. "I'm gonna, heh, 'scout' the area and make sure it is safe." Scout nodded, not reacting to his rather lame pun.
Feeling that his sense of humor was unappreciated, Radar flew off deeper into the forest, ears erect and eyes scanning the flora-covered ground. He landed every seven or so feet, sniffing and watching his surroundings with insane concentration.
Radar's paranoia seemed to be for nothing. Despite going out pretty far, he found nothing. Surprisingly, the forest was safe.
But while the others slept, he was still assigning a sentry. You could never be too prepared.
Feeling that his work was done for now, Radar headed towards the place his team set up camp.
His ears pricked when he heard the sneering voice of Terran. His gut told him this would be a prime time to eaves drop. Crawling in a bush, Radar hoped his team wasn't as psyched out about attackers are he was.
"Hey, Ellar. What are you doing now?" Terran snarled.
Ellar's startled voice followed. "Ah, uh, I am singing. I like singing. It's fun."
"Well shut up, it's annoying."
A couple of Wingblasts giggled.
"I-I didn't mean to bother you..." He mumbled.
"Stop stuttering!" Terran shouted, and through his hiding place Radar saw the larger pegasus to the ground. He couldn't believe his team was acting like this. Sure, he didn't love the stallion either, but this was pretty mean.
"Isn't that the seer?!" A male Wingblast sneered.
Terra held Ellar down by his skinny chest. "Yeah, yeah. I remember. The one with the sight, right? So, seer, have you had any good visions lately?" His eyes narrowed. "If you even have them."
Ellar tried to stutter something, tears streaming out of his eyes.
A female Wingblast, Nylon, loomed over him. "Hah! He's lying! Can't you see it in his face?" She laughed. "That little liar! He had all of us, even the Prince and Princess, fooled!"
"Please.." Ellar whispered, his voice hoarse. "Leave me alone. Radar said I could shadow you guys..."
Nylon started laughing again. "Really?!! You bought that? Radar pulled us aside and told us to 'humor you'. He seemed pretty embarrassed. I'm almost positive that Radar is only hanging out with you because Prince Embane ordered him to."
Radar's heart sank into his stomach. He didn't mean it like that. But now that he thought about it, that had sounded very mean. His heart descended deeper as he realized that he had basically stooped on the same level as his teammates by bullying Ellar.
As the sound of Ellar sobbing came to his ears, Radar refused to look. What had he done? He hated to admit it, but Ellar had kind of grown on him over the last few months. Hearing him cry like that, over something he had done, filled him with a feeling he didn't get a lot: depression.
Trying to shake off that cold numbness, Radar watched as his teammates mocked and insulted Ellar. Another emotion filling him.
Anger.
Radar burst out of the bushes, shoving Terran and Nylon aside and standing in front of Ellar.
"Shut up!" He roared. "I will not take this anymore! I admit, that yes, I was a bit annoyed by Ellar at first, but I found out he's pretty nice! If you actually gave him a chance, not just judging him because he's different, you would come to the same conclusion as me!" He advanced on Nylon. "I notice you are pretty quick on denouncing Ellar as a liar. I hope you remember that he is a noble and therefore a member of royalty! I could have both of arrested for harassing him like that." He addressed his entire team, green eyes glittering. "Now one of you volunteer as sentry so we can all get some sleep!" Radar ended shouting, whipping around to meet Ellar and Scout.
Radar was panting heavily, he wasn't used to going off on his team like that. He like to teach his team to respect him, not fear him. But sometimes, strict discipline was required.
Ellar's eyes shimmered. "T-Thank you!"
Radar smiled slightly. "Think nothing of it. My team was being insubordinate. I have told them before to respect their overheads." He went to his bed, curling under the blankets.
The slight sound of something being dragged alerted him. He saw Scout, sleeping bag in mouth, trotting over to him. He placed his bedroll beside Radar's.
"Do you mind if I sleep near you?" Scout whispered, trying not to wake the other Wingblasts that were already dozing off.
"Nah," Radar murmured, flicking his tail at Ellar, who was curling up near him.
Scout sat down, pulling a blanket around him. He murmured a goodnight and closed his eyes.
Radar sighed. He glanced at Ellar, snuggled against his side and his head resting on his neck, and Scout, curled up like a cat on his right. He looked at his team, and with a pang he realized the sleep pegasi were far spread from him. Were they mad or afraid?
He tried not to think about. He dearly wished that everything would be better in the morning, but he wasn't sure. After this is over, he thought, I'm taking them out to eat. Food makes everything better.
Radar felt a small poke in his side. He fully opened his eyes, he hadn't realized he was on the verge of going to sleep.
"Pssh, Radar. Are you awake?" Ellar's voice whispered in his ear.
"I am now."
He felt Ellar stir beside him. "I, er, I have to thank you for what you said earlier."
"I said it was nothing."
"I know... But really, thanks. I don't know how I could of gotten out of that one myself." Ellar said sadly.
"That's what I here for." Radar swallowed. "That's what friends are for."
"Friend?"
Radar looked at Ellar. He seemed to be avoiding his gaze. "Yeah. We are friends."
He heard the slight sound of sniffling from the skinny pegasus. "No one has ever told me they are my friend..."
Radar's breath caught in his throat. He was right. Ellar was lonely. Very lonely.
He nearly groaned. He didn't know what his friend was feeling. When he was a foal, Radar was surrounded by other ponies who were his friends. Even after he joined the Wingblasts, it didn'tchange much. He had even been close friends with the instructor. He had no idea what is like to be alone, to have no one to run to.
From then on, Radar promised himself to be Ellar's friend. His closest friend, possibly even his only friend for a long time.
Radar gave the sniffling pegasus a pat on the shoulder.
"Well, you can start from here. You have one friend, we can improve on that. In can introduce you to friends I know." Radar said, hope flooding his voice.
"I-I would like that." Ellar whispered.
"Let's get some sleep. You must be tired. I know I am." Radar wrapped his wing around the smaller pegasus, and he started to drift off.
He faintly heard Ellar say goodnight, but Radar was far too drowsy to reply.
The Wingblast captain gave a final yawn, finally falling into unconsciousness.
~
"Radar, wake up." Scout's voice awoke him.
Radar's eyes fluttered open. Ellar was absent at his side, he assumed that he was already awake. Scout was standing in front of him, shaking his shoulders. The rest of the Wingblasts were awake, and with major embarrassment he realized that he was the only one still asleep.
Radar shot up, shaking the blankets off him and desperately trying to regain his pride.
"Scout," he whispered fiercely. "Why did you not wake me up earlier! The captain has be to up at the crack of dawn!"
Scout frowned. "Sorry, I would have woken you earlier, but then... We got distracted." He pointed at a earth pony mare in the middle of the camp. She looked frantic, like she had been spooked.
"Who the crap is that?" Radar asked bluntly.
Before the grey stallion could answer, Ellar drifted beside Radar. "She says her name is Debbie. She comes from a nearby small town. Debbie explained a monster has been terrorizing her village, and she needs your help."
"Ah. I guess we should get on it." Radar murmured, slightly surprised by Ellar's answer.
Scout nodded. "I will question her a bit more."
As Scout trotted toward the earth pony, Radar turned to Ellar. "That was pretty good." He murmured, clapping him on the back. "Were you eaves dropping?"
Ellar didn't reply. In fact, he was just staring blankly into space. Worried, Radar poked him in the ribs. Still no response.
Then it hit him. Ellar was having a vision! This made him worry even more, that usually meant something bad was going to happen.
Suddenly, Ellar cried out, passing out and falling on the ground. Radar was shocked, shaking him and trying to rouse him. Ellar groaned, eyes opening.
"Radar?" He rasped.
"What happened? What did you see?" Radar urged.
"The monster...." He trailed off, jumping up and running to the group around Debbie.
Radar sighed, following him.
Scout met him as he arrived. "Radar," he murmured. "She told us where the creature lives. She mentioned a cave, and there is only on cave in the area, according to Ridley."
"Alright!" Radar called, getting his team's attention. "We will release two search teams, Gold Team and Silver Team. I will pick some members for my team, Gold, and the rest can sort out themselves. Scout, Ridley, Lily, Severus, come with me." He glanced the seer pegasus. "Ellar, you're in this too. Also," he added with a giggle. "Gold Team rules!" He turned serious again. "Ms Debbie, you can go back to your village. Move out, teams!"
With his Gold Team trailing behind him, Radar set out to find the creature.
Glancing behind him, Radar assessed his choices for companions. There was Scout, naturally, who was fast, but wasn't much of a heavy hitter. Ridley was better, able to kick pretty hard and fly fast. But on flat land, she was horribly clumsy. Lily and Severus, however, were duo fighters, the two pegasi that were madly in love could run and hit heavy. With self-proclaimed jack of all trades Radar, the team was pretty well rounded.
Ridley returned from her brief scout of the area. "There is a cave about a mile or so from here. I'm guessing this is the lair of the creature."
Radar nodded. "Good. We could probably make it there in an hour."
Scout meekly raised a hoof. "Sir, should we alert the Silver Team?"
The image of Terran and Nylon coming to mind, Radar shook his head. "If they are smart, they will reach the same conclusion as we did."
"Hey, Lily, Severus." Radar said, snapping the lovers out of a heated make-out session. He pointed west. "Get ready to fly in that direction."
They nodded.
The team took flight to the cave, Ellar dragging a bit behind, and was there in the estimated hour. The cave was huge, tall, long rock spires reaching up into the vast ceiling. Is was pretty dark too, but the group was still able to see some feet in front of them. Radar led the way, followed by Scout, with Ellar safely in the middle and Lily, Severus, and Ridley in the back.
A cracking of rock startled the group. Thinking fast, Radar shouted, "GET OUT OF THE WAY!" With that, his team scattered.
They were lucky. A vicious rock slide followed seconds after they jumped, stalactites raining down. Dust filled the cave, causing Radar to cough and splutter.
"Where is everyone?!" Radar screamed, trying to take account for his team.
"Here!" Ridley shouted, and Radar felt a hoof touch his side.
"Here." Scout's familiar smell came to his left.
"Ellar?!" Radar said, worry rising.
"I can't smell! Or breath!" Ellar's voice shouted somewhere near him.
The dust started to clear, and Radar slowly started to realize why Lily and Severus didn't answer.
There was a sheet of rock blocking the entire path.
They must have leaped in the wrong direction, Radar thought, falling onto his haunches. Scout and Ridley came to his side, each putting a hoof on his shoulder. Even Ellar came, a bit confused why everyone was so solemn. This couldn't be happening. He didn't think he could bear to lose another teammate, nonetheless two.
"LILY! SEVERUS! Radar screamed, his voice echoing around the dark cavern.
A slight scrabbling sound caught his attention and Radar looked up, hope flooding through him.
"Radar, is that you?" Lilly's higher pithed voice said quietly.
"Yes!" Radar shouted, running to the wall of rock. "Yes, it is! Is Severus okay?"
"Yes, I am." Severus's deadpan voice was like music to his ears.
"So," Scout murmured. "We are just on different sides of the cave."
Radar nodded. "Lily, do you see any other paths?"
"Yeah," the red furred pegasus said, "I see some light to our right. Should we investigate?"
"Yes." Radar said. "We will meet up later." He turned to the remaining three. "Let's get going."
After hearing a conformation from the pair, half of Gold Team started moving again.
As they traversed the rocky cave, Radar noticed an odd smell getting stronger. It was strong and musty, reminding him of large, wet cat. Apparently Ellar was getting the same mental image, because he was muttering something about a "big kitty-cat". Radar was getting a weird feeling in his gut that whatever they were hunting, Team Gold was getting closer to its lair.
They came to a smaller branch of the cavern, with much lower ceilings and barely any stalactites. A large nest made of grass and leaves was in the middle.
"You have been smelling that too, right?" Ridley said, crimping her nose in disgust.
"Yeah. The wet cat smell?" Radar muttered.
Scout went to the nest, studying it. "This has to be its lair. The smell is strongest here. And, of course, the nest."
While the other ponies discussed the creature, Ellar sat near the entrance, sniffing the air.
"Watch out for the kitty-kitty..." Ellar said in a creepy, singsong voice as a figure passed by him.
"What?" Radar said, hoping he didn't already understand what Ellar had said.
Before them sat a ginormous cat. It was fearsome, with matted fur and stained fangs. Four inch long claws retracted out of sheathes, eager to rip into the unwanted guests. Yellow, slitted eyes flickered in the semi-darkness, making the predator seem more demonic than it should have.
"Ellar," Radar whispered. "Stay in the back and out of sigh. Ridley, Scout, and I will take care of this. But if something happens to us, run." The pegasus nodded, eyes filled with fear.
"Ridley," Radar whispered, "Attack from the air. Scout, distract it. I will attack it from the ground and do whatever I can to kill it."
Scout eye's wavered. "What kind of distraction?" His quiet voice asked.
"Make me proud." Radar said simply, slinking around the corner for a sneak attack.
Scout bit his lip, wondering just what he could do. Then, something came to him, something Radar had said during training....
"LEEROY JENKINS!" Scout screamed, probably louder than he ever has in his entire life. Flying at incredible speeds, he slammed into the cat's furry chest, knocking it back a couple feet. Scout kicked at the creatures jaw, cracking at least one bone in process. The cat cried with pain, swatting at him. A bluish flash shoved him out of the way, sending Scout crashing into the ground. Ridley was fighting it now. She flew with grace, kicking and hitting weak spots. Ridley dodged one fatal blow after another, moving more like a bug than a flying horse.
From the ceiling of the cave, a tan figure slammed on the cat's head, sliding down the length of its body and landed on the ground. The cat swayed with the force of Radar's attack, allowing Ridley to kick the cat in the windpipe, sending it falling to the ground.
Radar strutted over to its body, checking it over. "It's not dead. Just unconscious." Ridley kicked it again in the head. "I think that did it. We should head back now. The village is safe."
As they walked out, Radar nodded approvingly at Scout. "That wasn't really a distraction, but hey, what you did back there was pretty awesome."
Ellar fell into stride beside them. "You sounded awesome. Then Ridley started kicking it...! You guys were amazing!"
Exiting the cave, they met Team Silver wondering around the forest. Radar explained the mission was over, Terran frowning in distaste. The entire Wingblast squad flew back to the castle, dismissed and ready to go home. Radar crawled into his room, half-asleep already. Ellar also went to his room, but didn't go to sleep just yet.
Feeling the cool air coming off his pool, Ellar breathed in deeply with content. He thought of the previous and current day's events, a smile coming to his mouth.
So this is what it feels like to have a friend, he thought.
End of Story 8
Dear Toxic; you have to be the most prettiest unicorn in castle! I luvvvv you!! I totally ship ToxicxDiamondshine! Xoxoxoxoxoxoox!!
Silverfox groaned, throwing the lavender-scented piece of paper into the hearth. More junk.
With disdain, she glanced at the large pile of castle mail. She groaned again. She had shirked her work, and now she was paying the price. Her recent adventures didn't include sorting through mail.
Earlier yesterday, Embane had confronted Silverfox about her dwindling work schedule. He admitted that he did care for her, but they had a agreement. Since about three in the morning, Silverfox had been reading and writing letters non-stop. Radar hadn't been any help, dumping a load of paperwork for her to do on her desk. Yes, because she doesn't have anything better to do.
Toxic had tried to bring her a muffin, but the berry incrusted treat had been ignored for over an hour. Despite the tantalizingly sweet treat sitting next to her, Silverfox had to get this work done.
Silverfox levitated a quill and a piece of parchment, preparing to start on a letter. She was in charge of everything that pertained to writing, she even wrote official documents that Embane signed. Right now she was addressing an earth pony that grew the food for the castle.
A rapid knock on the door disturbed the mare from her work, causing her to make an unsightly streak across the page. She moaned, realizing it was ruined.
"WHO IS IT?!" She screamed, not actually caring who is was. She scrambled around her room/study, looking for more parchment.
"It's Toxic, Diamondshine, and Catfight. Can we come in?" Toxic's voice came from across the door.
Silverfox furrowed her eyebrows. Her friends were so desperate to get her into the sunlight. She trotted to the door, messily brushing her mane with magic. "Yes." She hissed.
Toxic opened the door, looking bright and happy as ever. Morning ponies, she thought with a mental hiss. Catfight and Diamondshine tailed him, the mare peppy and the stallion looking beautiful, but tired.
"What is it?" Silverfox muttered. "I have to work." She hung her head down, letting out a sigh. "Just give me the rest of this day, then we can do whatever the plot calls for."
Toxic shook his head. "I don't think the format of this story will allow that."
"I know."
"So," she said. "What did you want to do anyway?"
Before Toxic could answer, Catfight jumped at Silverfox, clearly much more enthusiastic than her friend. "Earlier today, I discovered this cool pond in the middle of the forest!" She chittered on.
"That forest has too much stuff in it." Silverfox said.
"And when I put my hoof in," Catfight cheered. "It wasn't water! It was like some kind of ripplely-squishy stuff!"
Silverfox raised her eyebrows. "So, its a good idea to go back to it?"
Toxic smiled. "It seemed really cool. Catfight was pretty hyped about it."
Silverfox threw her hooves up in the air, cranking up the drama level. "Sure, why not?" She gestured wildly to the ginormous pile of letters. "I have nothing else better to do! I don't need to WORK FOR A LIVING!"
Catfight grinned, either her friend's sarcasm going over her head or just choosing to ignore it. "Great! Lets go!" The pegasus suddenly took to the air, zooming past Silverfox. "Oh, and you should get some sleep. You look terrible." She added as she pasted.
Silverfox groaned, once again, and spit a brown feather from her mouth.
Diamondshine stopped beside her, smiling slightly. "C'mon, you can work later." He said, leaving with Toxic.
Silverfox stuck her head down, giving her desk a last look before trotting off with her friends. "Friends," she muttered. "Can't live with them, can't live without them."
The trio met Catfight in the throne room, chatting with Radar.
"Oh," she said. "Radar said he would go with us!"
Silverfox gave Radar what only could be described as a death glare.
"So.." He said, noticing the tension. "Get any of my paperwork done?"
"I'll stick that paperwork up your-" Silverfox hissed, before Toxic clamped a hoof over her mouth.
"Please excuse her," He said meekly. "Silverfox gets a bit grumpy when she is tired."
"Where are you guys going?" Said a stern voice.
Infinity, flanked by Hatchet and Ellar, trotted into the room.
Catfight fluttered into the air. "We're going on an adventure!"
"Sounds exciting." Hatchet said, hitting Infinity on the shoulder, the unicorn cringing slightly. "Can we go?"
"Me too!" Ellar whispered.
Silverfox opened her mouth to make a snarky remark, but Toxic silenced her. "Sure!" The alicorn said. "We don't mind!"
~
Trotting to a clearing in the forest, Silverfox took in the view. It was as beautiful as Catfight had described on the way there- sunlight streamed through cracks in the foliage, casting small, mottled shadows all around the circular area. Tiny flowers grew everywhere, making little puddles of pastel pinks and blues. Then there was the pool itself; it sat in the middle of the clearing, clear and sparkling. It was rather small to be considered a pond, as it was only about two yards in diameter.
The entire area was startling devoid of life, with the exception of the foliage, making it disturbing quiet. Unlike the rest of the surrounding forest, the bird's chirps didn't reach the clearing, making an eery contrast to the otherwise majestic scenery.
"Wow," Infinity breathed, pale green eyes scanning the clearing.
Catfight grinned, fluttering around the group. "Right? Isn't it awesome?" She trotted to the pool, craning her neck to stare into the water. "Anyone wanna check the water? It's weird."
Toxic came to her side, touching the tip of his horn lightly on the water. He closed his eyes, focusing.
"It's not poisonous." He stated, done with his check.
Infinity strutted to the two ponies, adjusting his glasses. The unicorn didn't seemed that pleased to be in the group, but the beauty of the clearing seemed to have cheered him up. He leaned near the water, sniffing it. Using his magic, he levitated some drops of the pool. It seemed perfectly normal, shimmering in the sunlight.
Infinity frowned. "Odd. It's texture is normal too. Nothing out of the ordinary."
"But look at this!" Catfight whined, sticking her hoof in the water. To Silverfox's surprise, it did indeed turn into ripplely-squishing stuff. It reminded her of disturbing oil; thick ripples pervaded the surface of the so called water. Catfight jerked her hoof out, and it was completely dry.
Silverfox's face was one of utter shock. "What-how?!"
She shrugged. "I have no idea."
"Awesome!" Radar exclaimed, running up to the rim of the pool. "You can swim in it and you don't get wet! Don't mind if I do!" The pegasus stretched his legs, prepping to jump in.
"I wouldn't do that," Toxic said quickly, but it was too late. Radar leaped in, Toxic tackling him in the process. Both of the stallions plunged into the water, and to more of Silverfox's surprise, they disappeared without a trace.
"Toxic!" Silverfox shouted.
Ellar stumbled to the bank of the pool, aimlessly touching the surface. "Radar? Toxic? What happened? Why is everyone so quiet?"
Catfight blinked, as if trying to comprehend what had just happened. "Well," she murmured. "Now we know that the pool is defiantly something abnormal."
Hatchet came up to the pool, giving it a hard look. "I'm a good swimmer. Give me a couple minutes, and I will have them both on the bank. It shouldn't be that hard, right?"
"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," Silverfox murmured, trying to reach Hatchet.
The earth pony shook his head, plunging into the water. Again, the oil-like substance rippled and he was gone.
Infinity hung his head over the water, breathing hard. "W-What?! This doesn't make sense! They can't just disappear, right?!"
"I'm going next." From beside Silverfox, Catfight murmured. Her head was down, her pink mane slipping out of her hat and falling into her eyes. "It's only right. I'm the one who brought us here." Before Silverfox could object, Catfight leapt into the water, yet again disappearing.
Silverfox addressed who remained- Diamondshine, Ellar, and Infinity. "We have to jump too. I have no idea what's in there."
Diamondshine frowned. "We have to jump in there? Can'twe just get Embane or Goldenbell? Wouldn't that be safer?"
Silverfox chewed her lip. "Probably, but what if the pool has some kind of monster at the bottom of it? Or a very unfriendly race of Seaponies? So if we leave, Toxic, Hatchet, Radar and Catfight are going to be left at their mercy." She frowned. "Who knows what will be left of our friends when we return?"
"But my mane is gonna get all wet... I just styled it..." Diamondshine murmured.
Silverfox patted him on the shoulder, giving him a meaningful smile. "Will you go?"
He nodded slightly, sighing. "I guess. We have to save them."
"Good!" Silverfox hit him on the shoulder hard, sending him spiraling into the pool.
"Ouch." Infinity murmured, raising his eyebrow. "Glad I didn't disagree with you. You just guilt tripped the poor stallion and shoved him on in." Before she could give a dry remark, Infinity held his breath, adjusted his glasses, and jumped in.
Ellar stumbled to Silverfox, tugging on her mane. "What are we doing? Where are we going?"
She felt awkward being this close to Ellar, as she hadn't really ever tried to be near him that much. She considered him a companion, the loosest form of a friend, but never a close friend. She bit that thought away. She had to do what she had to do.
Silverfox took Radar by the hoof, looking determined. "I have no idea."
Then they jumped.
~
Silverfox awoke, feeling rough. She was lying on bare dirt, laced with gravel. Diamondshine was lying close to her, eyes closed like he was asleep. She couldn't locate Infinity, but Ellar was curled up about three feet away from her, sides rising up and down slowly.
She pulled herself up, trying to take in her surrounds. The only way she could describe it was dark-the sky was a rust color, black clouds obscuring the rest. Around her, buildings were in shambles, pieces of brick, metal, and rock were scattered about. Far on the horizon, some kind of fort made of scrap metal stood tall. Behind her, she spotted the castle- or at least what was left of it. The once great towers were now broken pieces of stone, and most of the rest of the castle was unrecognizable.
There were no ponies she could find, but to her horror she spotted a body not far away. Upon further inspection, Silverfox saw it was a young mare, covered in cuts and bruises.
"Horrible, isn't it?" A deep voice murmured behind her.
Silverfox whipped around, ready to defend herself. Right before she zapped her possible attacker with a laser beam, Silverfox found Infinity standing in front of her.
"Careful with that," he scolded.
"Where are we?" Silverfox whispered, looking at the gristly landscape.
"I have no idea. Wherever we are, it doesn't seem friendly, though." The stallion said, straightening his glasses.
"Silverfox, is that you?" Diamondshine said, followed by Ellar, trotting up to her.
"Yeah." She murmured, confirming the obvious. "But we have a problem. Toxic and the rest aren't here. It's just us four here."
"Four? Really..? Alright, I guess I was wrong....." Ellar whispered, looking wistfully over his shoulder.
"What are you talking about? Is there someone else here?" Infinity said, confused. He addressed Ellar like a student, trying to get a straight answer of of him.
But, of course, this question was answered for the group.
The sound of gravel hitting metal alerted all the ponies. As the echoes of hooves clunking on steel surrounded them, the group formed a defensive ring, but still unsure of where the strangers were coming from.
"There!" Diamondshine screamed, pointing wildly at a tall bridge of rusted steel shielded by an outcrop. There stood about five pony silhouettes, cloaked in shadows. The one in the front, the tallest, pulled something off its leg and tossed it into the path of Silverfox and her friends.
It was a strange contraction, just a pinkish sphere with a slight indention on the top, like something had been pulled out of it. Then, it suddenly started to spew bluish smoke, and exploded in a magical pink cloud.
Silverfox was out before she hit the ground.
~
"Toxic, Radar, wake up." A sharp cuff to his side awoke the alicorn. Toxic forced open his eyes, finding that he was on top of the pegasus. The smaller, younger stallion was splayed out on Radar, legs stretched out and forelegs firmly gripping him. This is how we went into the pool, Toxic thought, crawling off the Wingblast leader.
Catfight and Hatchet were watching them, and beside him Radar was stirring.
"You were still asleep when I awoke," Hatchet murmured. "I wasn't sure how alicorn magic worked, so I didn't want to startle you and get turned into a squirrel."
"I finally convinced him you aren't as powerful as your parents!" Catfight said, skipping to Toxic's side.
"Hey, guys, where are we?" Radar said, green eyes looking around him.
Toxic understood Radar's confusion. All around them were small,broken down houses, windows shattered and stone street cracked. Dried blood could be seen on one of the pitiful "porches". Toxic had never really ventured that far from Eclipse, but he assumed that this was what the slums would look like.
To his right, a foal climbed out of a shattered window. It was a young earth pony, terribly thin and a rag wrapped around his head.
Catfight slowly fluttered to the foal, walking the last few steps to her. She held out a hoof, trying to get the small mare to approach her.
"Come here. Don't worry, we won't hurt you. We just want to know where we are. Can you tell us that?" She said, probably slower she had ever spoken in her entire life.
The foal went still, grey eyes wide and blinking. Suddenly, she started screaming, her raspy voice breaking the odd silence that had covered the area. Catfight jumped back, nearly into Toxic, startled by the foals sudden outburst.
"INTRUDER ALERT!" The foal finished her fit, leaping into a nearby pothole and disappearing.
"What was that about?" Toxic asked, cocking his head.
Suddenly, a figure rose from a storm shelter, the cracked wood threatening to break. A unicorn trotted toward the group, horn facing then. He was blue, mane streaked with green and brown.
"Infinity?!" Hatchet gasped, trying to walk to him, only to be held back by Toxic.
"That's not Infinity!" Toxic hissed, pointing at the switchblade locked between the stallion's teeth.
"How you know my name does not perturb me. Students, attack position alpha!" The Infinity lookalike snarled.
Small shadows from all directions surrounded them, forming a circle.
"Don't attack them!" Toxic screamed, after getting a good look at one of the attackers. "They are just foals!"
Radar pulled back his leg, canceling a kick. "What?"
Five of the foals lunged at Radar together, wrapping around his neck and covering his eyes. To Toxic's surprise, they had the stallion to the ground in seconds.
"You're not very smart," The blue unicorn murmured. "A smart intruder would have ran, a smarter one would fight, no matter how the attacker looked."
Toxic tried to reply, but a dirty rag was stuffed into his mouth. He heard the frenzied cries of Catfight, then silence, and assumed they had her too. Near him, Hatchet was quiet, too.
"Bring them to my master's lair." Toxic heard Infinity's doppelgänger's voice as he was dragged across the ground.
~
Silverfox groaned, trying to pull herself up, but unsuccessful. Her legs were tied to together in a uncomfortable manner, but she assumed this was the point. She was in a dark, damp, but very large room, lit only by a few lights from the ceiling. It was empty and appeared to be made of stone, and the room had a certain pressure to it that alerted Silverfox she was underground.
Beside her, Diamondshine squirmed in his restraints, obviously furious at being on the dirty floor.
Ellar and Infinity were close, similarly tied up, but Ellar had his wings tied to his chest.
It was made very clear whoever had captured them did not have pleasant intentions.
Silverfox heard the sound of wing beats, and she searched the poorly lit room for any sign of a pony. A figure dropped down from the ceiling, kneeling when he hit the ground. She heard Diamondshine and Infinity gasp, and Silverfox herself felt fear.
The figure trotted out of the shadows, and Silverfox gaped in shock.
It was Ellar!
Well, in a way. The stallion was taller, mane trimmed and head held high. He had his trademark white fur and bushy red mane, but he was no longer deathy scrawny. This pony was lean, in an attractive, healthy way. Silverfox couldn't help but to find him hot. His muscles flexed as he walked, the ones in the wings the most defined. This stallion was also armed to the teeth. He had a massive sword strapped to his side, lightweight, miniature blades attracted to his wings, ninja stars on his legs, and several small daggers holstered on many parts of his body. He was a walking armory.
"Fox, is this who you have brought to me? The intruders?" The stallion said, his voice echoing around the cavern.
"Ah yes." A female voice cackled. To Silverfox complete surprise, the mare that strutted out of the shadows looked just like her. The only differences was that her brown mane was chopped off,right eye covered by an eyepatch, and the long machete strapped to her hip. She wore a tight, black catsuit, which made Silverfox a bit uncomfortable, seeing as she was her doppelgänger.
"S-Silverfox? Is that suppose to you be you?" Diamondshine whispered beside her, the stallion's eyes glued to her leather-covered butt.
"My eyes are right here." Silverfox snarled back, hitting him in the ribs.
"Ophelia, do you have a brother?" Fox murmured, giving Ellar a hard, one eyed glare.
Ophelia, the Ellar look-alike, narrowed his glazed eyes. " I am the only foal my parents have. Why?"
"Because one of the intruders looks just like you," she said, poking Ellar's slightly protruding ribs. "Only pathetic and more ill."
"And you," Fox hissed, rounding to Silverfox. "I have a sister, but she looks nothing like me. There is something odd going on here. Where did you come from?"
Silverfox crawled nearer to her friends and started to discuss.
"Should we say anything?" She whispered.
Infinity shrugged. "We are at their mercy. I believe we should just spew everything so we can find out where we are."
"It's not like we can really do anything in our current position." Diamondshine murmured, trying to clean his mane.
"Why was that Fox lady poking me?" Ellar whined, looking concerned.
"So it's agreed- I tell them everything, right?" Silverfox said, nodding. They all mumbled a yes.
Silverfox dragged her restrained body toward Fox and Ophelia, the armed mare looking slightly confused.
"My name is Silverfox. The pegasus's name is Ellar, the older stallion's is Infinity, and the last one is called Diamondshine. We come from Eclipse, where the castle and royal family is located. I have other friends too, their names are Radar, Toxic, Hatchet, and Catfight. My friends and I have come into a bit of a mishap, we all went through some kind of portal disguised as a pool of water. We mean no harm, I would just like to know where we are and who you are."
Contrasting Silverfox's serious calm, Fox and Ophelia were visibly shocked, eyes wide and mouths gaping.
"Ellar..." Ophelia whispered. "I haven't gone by that name in a long time. And about Eclipse, you are there right now. I'm not sure about what you were saying about the royal family, there hasn't been one since the Sun and Moon Princess."
"What?!" Silverfox gasped, losing her calm. "That can't be possible! What about Embane and Goldenbell?"
Ophelia laughed bitterly. "Those 'saviors'?" Nightmare already killed them, he's been our ruler since I can remember."
Silverfox heard Ellar gasp, Diamondshine taking a sharp breath, and Infinity narrowed his eyes.
Ophelia bit his lip. "I believe we are experiencing a bit of a parallel universe problem. If I am correct everyone in your world must have a double in ours. For example, you speak of Radar, despite him being in the other room."
"Really?!" Ellar cried. "Radar? Can I see him? Pleeeaaseee?" He bounced up and down like a impatient foal.
Ophelia sighed. "Alright. I'm going to warm you- it's probably going to be very different." He looked at Fox. "Fox, undo the restraints and lead the prisoners to his room."
The unicorn nodded, going to each pony and cutting the ropes with magic. The four ponies followed the leather-clad mare out of the large room and down a dark hallway. They arrived at a simple door, which Fox curtly knocked on.
"C-Come in......" A weak voice came from the room.
Fox lead them in, it was completely dark, except for a solo candle illuminating the corner of the small room. A tan-colored pony was hunched in the shallow light, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
Ellar smiled brightly, running to the pony.
"I wouldn't do that-" Fox began, but it was too late. Ellar pulled the blanket off the other Radar's back, revealing what was underneath.
Silverfox gasped, feeling bile rise in her throat.
Radar's body was heavily scarred, fur missing in places where scar tissue sealed his skin. He turned his head, one of his eyes was gone, the injured eyelid forced closed by old wounds. His ears were notched and missing fur, and his neck bore a noticeably large scar across it. But worst of all were his wings-or at least what was left of them. Radar's wings had been sliced off until just two stumps remained. The remnants bore no fur, just pinkish skin. Thin white bones protruded from the stumps.
Diamondshine's eyes widened, locked on the other Radar's gristly form. Infinity stumbled back, in shock. Ellar, not sure why everyone was so afraid, simply tried to hug Radar, only for the stallion to scream and shove the seer off. He ran unexpectedly fast, diving into the shadows, making him completely unseen. Silverfox could hear him sobbing from his hiding place.
"What happened?" She said, finally finding her tongue.
Fox shook her head. "A while back, we had a bit of a battle with some of Nightmare's soldiers." She sighed. "They were relentless. Those unholy creatures ignored us and ganged up on poor Radar. They nearly ate him alive, and Ophelia and I barely managed to drag him out. He stayed in our make-shift infirmary for months, mostly due to the shock of losing his wings. After that, he was never the same. He had every bit of bravery and boldness in him devoured out of him that day. He has been a nervous wreck ever since." Fox scowled. "Nightmare was smart, siccing his minions on one of our strongest fighters. We are running out of good, courageous fighters."
Infinity frowned. "Why exactly do you need fighters?"
Fox flicked her short bangs, rising her lip in disgust. "We can't stand Nightmare's way of ruling. So, I met up with Ophelia one day, and we started forming a resistance. Radar offered to join us, and we gleefully accepted, as we needed as many fighters as possible." She glared. "Of course, there are other resistances formed, such as the biggest one behind us, the one run by Merlin. Can't stand those ponies. Merlin is too gentle to be a leader while his second in command is too much of a pervert."
Cringing at the sound of Radar's frenzied sobs, Fox shook her head. "We should get back to the main room. Ophelia is going to be expecting us back."
Leading a confused Radar away, Silverfox and her friends followed Fox out of the room and down the hall.
~
Toxic blinked in the bright light as he was dragged into a wide, tall cathedral-like building. Toxic would have assumed it to be more beautiful, but instead it was grey and looming. It was illuminated by mystical, floating balls of light that were goldish in color.
Toxc followed the orders of a particularly vicious foal, plopping down on his haunches as he watched Infinity's doppelgänger lounge in his chair. Mares were laid all over him, cooing and petting his fur. Infinity watched them with an absolutely smug look, occasionally stopping to gaze at Catfight lecherously. Catfight scooted closer to Toxic in reaction to this.
"Where are we?" Hatchet snarled, backed by Radar. "Tell me, you creep!" The Infinity clone laughed. "Don't get your saddle in a bunch. My master should be here soon. He should be done with his studies soon."
"Arithmetic, are these our guests?" A gentle voice called down the narrow passage to the unicorn's chair. A figure walked into through the door, and Toxic's eyes widened.
The unicorn that came trotting down the passage was clearly Diamondshine, but he looked very different. His mane was much longer that it usually was, trailing across the dull, carpeted floor. He was missing his signature bracelets, only wearing a simple amulet around his neck. The unicorn's legs were decorated with runes made of black paint and he wore a long, velvety cloak that dragged along the floor.
"Greetings," the stallion said, bowing deeply. "My name is Merlin. I must offer my apologies- Arithmetic can be rather brutal. But I'm afraid me must apprehend any pony who comes into our land. Can you state your names and reasons for coming here?"
Radar shoved toward Merlin, malice glinting in his eyes. "I'm Radar! And who exactly are you? Your name doesn't tell us much! Why do you look like our friend?"
To Toxic's surprise, Merlin touched Radar's face with his hoof, wonder in his eyes. "Amazing..!" The unicorn murmured. "After being that injured, you made a full recovery, even with no problems to your psyche! Please, sir, tell me what kind of magic was used for this! I must know, there are so many victims I could heal..."
"What? The only massive injury I have ever had was along my side, and Cross healed that easily, only with about a week of bed rest." Radar said, pointing at the scar that ran along his side.
Merlin's ears went down, confusion flooding through him. "Hmm? Cross?" He sighed. "It's been a long time."
Toxic pushed Radar aside, eyebrows raised. "What happened to Cross?"
Merlin groaned. "He was a star in a resistance. Cross could convince anyone to join out movement. That is, until Nightmare got particularly frustrated with him. That evil pony had his soldiers string him up by his back legs and rip open his stomach. It was terrifyingly disguising, and we lost most of our members right then and there."
"Resistance?" Toxic inquired. "What are you talking about?"
Merlin cocked his head. "How could you not know?"
Toxic sighed. "You see, Radar and I fell into a strange pool of water. My friends followed after, and we just woke up in this strange world. What happened?"
Merlin's eyes looked troubled. "Ah. I thought I sensed a magical disturbance a couple hours ago. There is a portal here, a little ways from this location, but I have never dared to emerge myself in it. I assumed there is a portal in your world too, that must be what you fell in. I'm afraid you have entered another dimension. There is an alternate version of everyone you know. Here, Nightmare is our ultimate ruler. It's been like that for hundreds of years. My group tries our best to save bystanders and resist Nightmare's leadership but-" the rapid sound of running ponies cut him off. "Oh dear, Arithmetic, call the soldiers to the room. I believe we have trouble."
Arithmetic threw up his horn, letting out a magical blast that radiated through the doors of the grand building. Armed ponies of species ran into the room, looking around wildly.
Merlin turned his head toward the main entrance. "They should be coming through there. Be prepared."
Right at that moment, the doors were knocked down, and an army filled into the room, knocking down the pews that taken up the empty space. It was led by a catsuit-clad Silverfox, who was armed and had her bangs chopped off.
The mares around Arithmetic jumped down, joining Merlin's fighters. The foals that had taken them down previously joined them. Merlin himself skipped to the back, ushering Toxic and his friends with him.
"What are you doing?" Radar hissed.
"Ah, I am a sheer magic fighter. I can't be up in the front. Too dangerous. And for you, you must protected. You don't want to fight, do you?"
"Yes!" Radar said. "That's the only thing I want to do in this weird world! Right, Hatchet?"
The earth pony nodded, drawing his weapon.
"I'll join too!" Catfight shouted, jumping in the air.
"Will you?" Merlin asked, looking at Toxic.
The alicorn nodded. "Yes sir."
"Get in your ranks! The fight is about to begin!" Merlin said, throwing his head toward the lines of ponies.
Toxic nodded, he join the group of combat unicorns while Radar and Catfight went straight to the pegasi rank. Hatchet went proudly to the front lines.
"FORCES, FIGHT!" Merlin screamed, and both armies surged toward each other. Horns clashed against horn, pegasi crashed into one another, and weapons cleaved into either side.
It was complete chaos. Toxic wasn't even sure who's side was who's- there were no specific markings or uniforms. Toxic just blasted whoever came within three feet of him with a malicious face. Hatchet was having a lot more fun, slicing everyone in his path. Oddly, ponies just fled from Catfight, screaming while she chased them. Radar took to the skies, dropping on unsuspecting enemies on the ground.
It was a terrifying sight, ponies trying to kill each other in a grand cathedral. Some didn't even fight with weapons, ponies just threw their opponents into pews and then just started kicking and punching them. It was sheer bloodshed, more than Toxic had ever seen before, even during the New Pony Movement. He assumed older, more experienced ponies like Radar and Hatchet were used to this, but he certainly wasn't.
Toxic dodged a knife wielding earth pony, hitting him with magic blast. He tried to keep his magic use at a minimum, since too much at one time could be dangerous, despite not having full alicorn power. Having a talent in poison tended to do that.
A sudden series of screams alerted Toxic, and he dove out of the way. Just at that time, a huge beam of fire blasted through whatever ponies were in its path. Toxic look for the cause, and he spotted Merlin with his horn raised, eyes glowing.
After a grueling twenty or so minutes, Merlin's forces chased the last enemy out the large doors, the Silverfox look alike. Ponies were strewn around the room, some brutally injured, others just having some scratches. Merlin went from pony to pony, healing injuries and placing sheets over the dead. Toxic joined his friends on a short pew, and was glad to see his companions weren't one of the unlucky ponies. Out of the four, Hatchet was the only one injured, but it was just a scratch across the chest.
Merlin finished healing his soldiers, walking over to Toxic and his friends.
"Ah, I'm sorry you had to experience that. Ophelia just doesn't know when to stop. It can get rather terrifying at times, never knowing when you are going to be be attacked." The unicorn murmured, looking troubled.
Arithmetic trotted up to Merlin, grimacing. "I'm afraid while we were fighting, some of Ophelia's scouts raided our storage."
Merlin's face dropped. "Oh dear. What was stolen? Anything important?"
Arithmetic shook his head. "Just some jugs of fresh water, medical supplies, and a couple pieces of fruit. Nothing we can't replace."
Merlin closed his eyes. "Alright. They must have been desperate for supplies, judging by what they stole. I dearly hope they enjoy their stolen goods and use them wisely."
~
Silverfox took a deep sip of the soup a rebel pony had served her. It was just broth seasoned with some vegetables, but good nonetheless. She hadn't realized that she was that hungry. Silverfox regretted leaving that muffin on her desk now.
Ophelia had told them he was sending out scouts to look for supplies, and that he advised them to wait for them to return in his private room. The room was more like a box than a actual room, a simple four post bed was biggest attraction. The pegasus had laid out some pillows for her and her friends to sit on, but they weren't very comfortable.
As Silverfox finished her bowl and gently placed it beside her, Fox came into the room.
"Sir, we have successfully captured some supplies from Merlin." She stated.
"'Captured'?" Inquired Infinity, gazing quizzically at the unicorn.
Ophelia nodded, eyes half closed. "Yes, we had to steal them. You see, due to our surplus of members, we constantly run low on necessary objects, like food and medical supplies. We have been reduced to petty thieves for the most part, though we try to nab stuff from Nightmare's place for the most part. Either way, we have to fight for the stuff we steal. I'm pretty sure out medics are going to go through the majority of the bandages we got just healing the raiding party."
"Haven't you ever tried to just, you know, work together? Like with Merlin or whoever?" Silverfox asked.
Ophelia and Fox laughed in unison. "Ha," the pegasus snickered. "You really think I should put myself down low enough to even associate with that scum Merlin?"
Diamondshine shrugged, curtly sipping at his soup. "I don't see why not. You are doing this resistance thing for the ponies of Equestria, right? So if joining with Merlin would increase your chances of winning, why wouldn't you just bear through it for some time for the well being of your country? Maybe, after that, you could find other resistances and they could join with you. The more ponies you have, the better your chances of taking back Equestria get."
Silverfox looked at Diamondshine in surprise. The stallion had been kindly quiet during the entire misadventure, despite not even wanting to go to begin with. Now, him saying something that deep took Silverfox for a loop. She really didn't expect that out of him. I should probably have higher expectations out of him, Silverfox thought with a frown.
Ophelia blinked, clearly shocked also. "I-I never thought of it that way. I always thought if I went to Merlin's we would start fighting."
Ellar chimed in. "Just come in with cake and waving a flag of truce!"
Ophelia looked confused. "Why cake?"
"Everyone loves cake!" Ellar said in a sing-song voice, his tail swooshing back and forth.
Ophelia sighed heavily. "Alright. I will try to make peace with Merlin and his goons." He narrowed his eyes. "But if it doesn't work, I'm beating the crap out of them."
"Could we come? I am looking for my other friends; I thought we many be able to find them along the way." Silverfox murmured.
Ophelia nodded, turning to Fox. "Fox, assemble the remaining troops and have them meet me outside. During that, find something that can go as a flag of truce." The unicorn said a sharp "Yes sir!" and ran out the door.
Ophelia turned his blind eyes toward Silverfox and her friends. "Get ready. It might get dangerous out there."
~
"So," Catfight said. "What is alternate universe me like?"
Since Merlin had retreated to his study room to look for more information about the mysterious portal, Toxic and his companions were left alone with Arithmetic and his cooing harem. They had took this time to learn more about the world they were in.
"Catfight, eh?" Arithmetic murmured, reaching out to touch the brown pegasus's face, only to be stopped by a cold glare from Toxic. "Well, I hate to say it, but you are on the villain's side."
"What?" She cried.
"Yup. Ice-hearted killer working directly for Nightmare. She calls herself Bast and barely ever walks- she usually flies or lounges on one of her wildcat pets. Bast also has a sick fascination for knifes, it's her preferred method of slaughtering ponies."
"That's terrible!"
Radar shoved her aside. "What about me? Am I awesome?!"
Arithmetic smirked. "Far from it. You're a nervous cripple that Ophelia keeps locked away."
"Who is this Ophelia everyone is talking about?" Toxic finally asked.
Fear entered Arithmetic's eyes. "Next to Merlin, he is the strongest pony I know. Despite being blind as a bat, he practically makes his enemies crap themselves when he decides to fight."
"Decides to fight?" Toxic inquired.
"Yeah," Arithmetic mumbled. "The stallion barely fights. He's pretty prideful, so he considers himself more important than his soldiers. I heard that's really his only flaw." The stallions shuddered. "Either way, he looks terrifying when his white coat gets covered in his enemies's blood. His mane is even blood red!" He leaned in and whispered. "Some have even said he can see the future!"
"Wait a second..." Radar murmured.
Hatchet caught on. "Blind? White coat?"
"Red mane? Can see the future?" Finished Radar, ears slanted down.
"Hold crap, Ellar is Ophelia." Catfight said, stating everyone's assumptions.
"Pretty symbolic code name," Toxic said, impressed.
Before Arithmetic could comment on this strange development, Merlin burst through the door, running to them, scroll levitating beside him.
"Guests! Guests! I have great news!" Merlin cried, stumbling over his cloak and falling right at Arithmetic's hooves.
"What is it?" Toxic said, bending over to see him.
Merlin waved the scroll up and down with magic. "This portal, its called the Mirror Pool! It sends the ponies who enter it to an alternate universe!"
"Alright, but how does this help us?" Hatchet said gruffly.
Merlin smiled, pulling himself up. "It was in one of my books. How long as it been since you fell into it?"
"Uh, about a day or so." Toxic said.
"Great! The magic in it had recharged! You can go back home!" Merlin said, excited.
"But we are missing the rest of our group. That's the reason we haven't tried for home yet." Catfight murmured.
"Once you arrive to the pool, I will send scouts to look."
Toxic nodded his head rapidly, shaking Merlin's hoof. "T-Thank you!" He stuttered. "That's so kind!"
"It's dangerous out here." The unicorn said in response. "I don't want to take the chance that you are injured, or even killed, here and are unable to go home.
"When should we go?" Hatchet asked.
"Right now. As soon as possible." Merlin said quickly. "I'm afraid if we don't, Nightmare's soldiers swarm the area. Or, even worse, Nightmare himself will notice to amount of magical disturbances." He looked at Arithmetic. "Go gather some fighters. Just a couple, we still need some ponies guarding the base." The blue stallion murmured a yes and ran off, leaving his harem.
Several ponies of all species came into the room shortly after, and during this, Toxic and his friends were preparing to leave. When everyone was ready, Merlin headed the party and they trekked into the outside.
It was just as grim as Toxic remembered, with its reddish sky and grey clouds. However, they were at least out of the slums, now just a wide, open field. You could see for miles, and Toxic assumed that's why Merlin made his base there. To his north, Toxic could barely make out a cluster of trees, and possibly a glimmer of water.
The Mirror Pool.
Merlin had a new look of seriousness to him. Contrasting to his usual gentle smile, the stallion was completely concentrated, constantly looking around him and sending scouts whenever something didn't look right. This deeply unnerved Toxic, and clearly the rest of his companions too, as Hatchet and Radar were walking close together and Catfight's wings frequently brushed against his.
A pegasus scout burst into their line of sight, soaring in a fast, but clumsy, pace. He crashed in front of Merlin, hyperventilating. "HolycrapOpheliaarmyweareallgonnadiehe'sgonnamurderus." The scout gasped all at one time, trying to catch his breath.
"Hold on, hold on. Say that again. Slowly." Merlin said, the entire group put to a halt. He put his hooves on the nervous scout's shaking shoulders.
"Ophelia..is here..has an army with him...we're gonna die..." He wheezed.
Fear flickered in everyone's eyes.
"Oh dear.." Whispered Merlin as Ophelia and his troops came into view on the top of the hill. From their far off view, the ponies could still she the scarce sunlight glinting off the weapons carried by the soldiers.
"I thought this was supposed to be a peaceful mission!" Toxic said, shuffling nervously beside Merlin. Behind him, the foals started to murmured and squeak, clearly scared of their impending doom.
Merlin squinted, as if trying to make out more. "Wait..." He said slowly. "He's got something in his mouth. It's a... It's a flag of truce!"
Ripples of shock went through the small ranks of Merlin's ponies.
Ophelia had gotten within about thirty feet of them, and Toxic could identify specific ponies. A two silver figures waiting behind Ophelia caught his eye. One was clad in leather and was armed with a large knife. The other obviously his Silverfox, lacking the eyepatch the other wore and had long bangs over her right eye. He spotted Diamondshine, Ellar, and Infinity close by.
Ophelia strutted toward Merlin, alone and head held high. The white flag in his mouth slightly swayed in the wind that stirred his red mane. Despite his earlier fear, Merlin stayed completely stoic and unwavering as the leader trotted to him.
Ophelia cast the flag on the ground that separated them, blind eyes narrowed in concentration.
"I, Ophelia, would like to propose a truce. Both of our groups work together to stop Nightmare, limiting the causality due to senseless fighting between us. Do you accept?" The white pegasus said loud and clear.
Merlin smiled. "That's wonderful. But I'm pretty sure I already suggested this. Did you have your pride knocked down a couple pegs?"
Ophelia growled and snorted. "Do you accept or not?" Behind them, his troops drew weapons.
"I do. I accept."
"I-I'm sorry to interrupt, but we have trouble!" A pony in the back ranks shouted. Immediately, everyone looked back, the same face of horror coming to their faces. Hundreds of Nightmare's minions were approaching over the horizon, all snarling and hissing. The ghastly creature were advancing with surprising speed, in a matter of seconds they would be upon the terrified ponies.
"Run!" Merlin screamed to Toxic. "Grab your friends and get out of here! We will hold them off! If they reach the portal, there is no telling what would happen."
Shaking, Toxic nodded, yelling to his already present companions and plunged straight into Ophelia's group. As this happened, the Nightmare forces met the rebels. It was complete chaos, worse then the regular fights Toxic had experienced.
~
Silverfox swirled around, not sure what to do. She tried to control the blind panic that hit her when the snarling shadowy soldiers plunged into the rebels. Sure, she knew what they were, she had seen them during Embane's flashback. Back then, Silverfox had been completely safe and immune to the terror they caused just by being in a fray with them.
Finding herself, Silverfox grabbed Ellar and ran deeper into the crowd. With a quick look behind her, she saw Diamondshine slicing the soldiers in half with a magic sword. She screamed at him, and Diamondshine turned and started to follow.
Silverfox tried her best to tunnel her vision, to ignore the shouts and agonizing sounds of unlucky ponies. She stumbled over a corpse, nearly bringing Ellar to the ground with her. Diamondshine had caught up with her, helping the mare up. Silverfox waved him off, looking for Infinity.
"Silverfox! Diamondshine!" Toxic shouted, grabbing her attention. She whipped around, seeing Toxic, Infinity leaning on his shoulder. Radar, Hatchet, and Catfight trailed behind him.
The older teacher had blood running down his face, but the most serious wound she could see was a bite on his chest. Silverfox assumed the Nightmare forces had tried to eat the stallion, and shuddered at the thought of this dimension Radar.
"Merlin told us we have to get to the portal before the Nightmare's soldiers do." He pointed his head to a patch of trees far north.
Suddenly, Ellar started screaming. Radar rushed to his friend, catching him when the pegasus collapsed.
"What's wrong?!" He shouted.
"I don't know! S-Some is dying inside me! It feels like I'm being ripped apart!"
At the sound of a similar scream, Silverfox saw a gristly sight. She could make out Ophelia on the ground, surrounded by Nightmare forces. Her stomach twisted when she saw they were ripping pieces of flesh off him. She averted her eyes, choosing instead to stare at Toxic with a sickened expression.
"We've got to get out of here." She whispered.
After finishing Ophelia, the soldiers moved on toward the ponies.
"Follow me!" Toxic yelled, running north.
Radar slung the agonized Ellar over his back and ran. Catfight took to the air, flying above them. Seeing Infinity's meager attempts to walk, Hatchet helped him onto his back and ran with sturdy strides alongside Silverfox.
Silverfox gritted her teeth as pain went up and down her body. It was coming, she knew it. Her other self was gravely injured and was going to die. Silverfox prayed she could make it to the portal before the horrible aches came completely.
Judging by the self-muffled screams of Infinity, his doppelgänger was being treated to the same fate as Ophelia.
Catfight whipped around in the air, eyes widening.
"Get ready to fight!" She said, about ten Nightmare forces closing in on them.
"Get Infinity and Ellar to the portal." Silverfox yelled to Radar and Hachet. "Protect them!" The stallions nodded, rushing off.
Silverfox summoned magic to her horn, prepared to fight for her life. She wasn't going to die here, no, not so far away from her home. Diamondshine flashed her an encouraging grin, yellowish magic swirling around his horn. It was just her and her three closest friends-just like Silverfox liked it. Together, they were unstoppable. The rest of the battle was invisible.
Toxic made the first move. The alicorn lunged at the first enemy, sickly green magic plunging into its sheer black body. Catfight caught it around the neck, punching the shadowy creature and giving the final blow. Silverfox and Diamondshine dual attacked another one, taking turns blasting it with magic.
Diamondshine didn't move quite fast enough to dodge its counterattack, receiving a bite on his back leg. He reared back, blasting it through its head with pain-fueled power. They moved on to the next one.
Silverfox was fast, kicking then retreating before the Nightmare force could attack her back. Diamondshine was creative, picking up a discarded two by four with magic and using it as a makeshift weapon. The piece of wood was a surprisingly good weapon in the hooves of the unicorn, smacking the creature back and hitting weak points. Silverfox finished it off, slicing off its head.
"That's a nice weapon you have there!" Silverfox said sarcastically to Diamondshine, who was crouched down, to relieve to pain in leg.
Diamondshine smirked, slinging blood off his horn. "All I know is that I gonna need to take a bath after this. I must smell and look horrid."
Silverfox laughed, looking at Catfight and Toxic, still locked in combat. They were fighting two at one time, with great results. Toxic gave a battle cry, slicing the Nightmare force right in half. Catfight was ducking in and out, punching, kicking, and tackling her opponent, moving out before it could attack her back. She kicked it a good time in the jaw, causing its neck to twist at an unnatural angle. It's body slumped to the ground.
Four down. Six to go.
"Toxic, Catfight you rest! Diamondshine and I will take down two more and then we can all have one a piece." Silverfox shouted, and Toxic nodded. Catfight shouted a yes back and flopped on her haunches.
Silverfox and Diamondshine galloped to the next two enemies, horns raised in attack. Silverfox zapped one with magic, only to be taken by surprise by another. She was tackled, pinned to the ground.
Fear flickered in her eyes as the Nightmare force barred its fangs in her face. Drool trickled down from its maw as a snarled escaped from its throat.
The creature leaned down, preparing to bite into her soft neck. From around the Nightmare force's spindly body, she saw Diamondshine in fierce combat some feet away. Toxic and Catfight were watching nervously, and she noticed the widening of their eyes. The alicorn and pegasus leapt up and ran toward her, Silverfox allowing herself a grin.
Silverfox hit the Nightmare force with a short distance beam of magic, knocking it straight into Toxic's path. The alicorn zapped it with magic, Catfight slamming into its neck.
Diamondshine trotted back to his friends, slinging blood from his body. Judging by the two pieces of soldier behind him, he had a successful fight.
"We will split up and take one each. If any of us need help, just yell, ok?" Silverfox said, looking sheepishly at Catfight and Toxic.
Everyone nodded, and ran into the waiting pack of Nightmare forces.
Silverfox head on tackled hers, stabbing with her horn. She was going to kill it as soon as possible, so there would be no chance of her getting trapped like that again.
The creature squirmed beneath her, throwing her off. Silverfox picked herself right up without missing a beat, the grey mare ran right back to it, horn alighting with magic.
With a well-aimed blow, Silverfox sliced the shadowy pony's head off. Blood splattered on the ground as the body fell.
Silverfox sagged with exhaustion, sides heaving as she panted. Looking behind her, she saw Catfight was resting while Diamondshine and Toxic were fighting together. Toxic was stepping tenderly on his hoof, like it was hurting him. Upon further inspection, Silverfox noticed the little bit of blood coming off it. He must have gotten injured and called for Diamondshine's help, Silverfox thought. She was a bit surprised she didn't even hear Toxic's cry, realizing she was a bit more in "the zone" than she thought.
Toxic gave the final blow, the last of the Nightmare forces following them falling to the ground.
"Let's hurry and find the others before more of this creatures find us." Silverfox said, the rest of her friends nodding.
Silverfox ran toward the patch of trees, Diamondshine- despite his injury-galloping beside her, as Toxic had to fly wit Catfight due to the pain in his leg.
Coming to a halt in front of Hatchet and Radar, Silverfox saw the Mirror Pool (Toxic had explained everything about it on the run there). It was just like it was in her world-eerily calm and strangely beautiful. Even the same little flowers grew around it.
Infinity was laying down near the rim of it, blood seeping onto the pastel flora. Ellar was crouched beside him, looking much calmer than before.
"Is everyone ready?" Toxic asked, eyes focusing on the portal that had caused this entire problem.
Radar nudged Infinity up and supported him on his shoulder. Ellar trotted closer to the pool and breathed in the air around it, for some odd reason. Silverfox was in the lead, peering at it nervously. She cringed when pain spiked around his leg and stomach. Fox clearly didn't have long to live.
"On the count of three, alright?" Silverfox said, everyone murmuring yes.
"One..."
"Two.."
Three.."
"JUMP!"
~
Silverfox allowed herself to go to bed without even attempting to do any of her work. She was simply too tired.
Embane had been shocked when they came in, bloody and exhausted, practically collapsing at the door. He had called for Cross immediately, who tended to Toxic, Diamondshine, and Infinity. Bandaged and sleepy on pain medicine, Cross helped them to their rooms, Diamondshine just staying in a guest room for the time being. Radar explained what had happened, Silverfox filling in when he wasn't sure or just exaggeration the facts. Silverfox later heard that Embane visited the portal shortly after, finding out that the portal had been destroyed from the other side, making it just a shiny pool of water now. She figured it was for the best.
Pulling the sheets over her chin, Silverfox let herself cry out in pain. This was it- Fox was being devoured, killed by the pony-eating monsters that were under Nightmare. She understood what Ellar meant, the phantom feeling of being eaten yourself. Finally, when the aches passed, she sighed in relief.
Silverfox wondered who would take over Ophelia's resistance, since both of its main leaders met the same fate. She hadn't met that many other leaders, but Silverfox was sure there was at least someone there that was fit to lead.
Drifting off, Silverfox hoped they actually succeed in defeating Nightmare, despite how bad the odds were.
End of Story 9
Side Story: Prince of Dusk
Short Story- Prince of Dusk
"Miss Goldenbell, can you come with me for a moment?"
Goldenbell turned around in surprise, seeing the very Prince of Mystic Falls behind her. She couldn't help but gape. Sure, Goldenbell had heard that the Prince was friendly, but he had never directly spoken to her.
"Ah-uh-yes sir?" She gasped, falling in a clumsy bow, her streaked mane flopping in her eyes.
"Good! Follow me." He chimed, trotting gleefully down a decorated hall.
Goldenbell meekly trotted behind him, feeling rather confused. Was she in trouble? Would Taijitsu act happy even though he was about to explode on the inside?
"You are probably wondering why you are here, right?" The alicorn turned his head, a bright smile on his face.
She nodded.
"Well, I hope you are aware of my youngest son, Embane.."
She knew Embane. Her mother was there to witness his creation ceremony- something that only happened when an alicorn was greatly needed for a certain purpose. Alicorns are produced asexually, a product of magic. It was a grand and intricate thing- Taijitsu would come in front of the gathered population of Mystic Falls in the throne room; runes already inscribed on the floor. He would place a feather, for pegasi, a small amount of soil, for earth ponies, and unicorns were represented by the runes made on the floor. Next, Taijitsu assembled a cutie mark, a purpose, for his offspring in the center of the runes. Lastly, Taijitsu would chant a spell and fire large quantities of magic into the scene, merging the symbols of different ponies together and a new born foal would appear out of the smoke. Usually, the servants took the foal first, because Taijitsu was too exhausted to do much else. This was why he could only create alicorns every couple hundred years- it was draining.
"What is wrong with Embane, sir?" Goldenbell asked, breaking out of her thoughts.
"Nothing is wrong," Taijitsu murmured, "But my son has finished his training." They arrived at a door decorated with crescent moons and stars. "And I believe he should take on a apprentice."
Taijitsu gleefully opened his son's door, unaware of the now very shocked unicorn following him.
Embane was sitting on a dark colored bed, absorbed in a book. Apparently, he didn't even notice them, not bothering to look up or anything.
"Oooohh, Eemmbaanne!" Taijitsu said, prancing into his son's room and disturbing him from his book.
Embane closed the book, sighing deeply. "Yes?"
Taijitsu's wing was wrapped tightly around the much younger, frowning alicorn. "Remember how I said you finished your magical training? And you needed to take the next step?"
"Yes."
The black and white alicorn stuck out his hoof and waved it wildly at Goldenbell. "Here is your next step!"
"What do you want me to do?!" Embane cried, aghast.
"Take her as an apprentice, obviously." He paused. "Wait, what did you think I meant?"
Embane frowned. "Er, nothing. Nothing at all."
"Anyway," Taijitsu said, averting away from the awkward moment, "This is Goldenbell. She has some good potential, and I would like you to mentor her. Then I can truly declare you have finished your training to the public."
Embane came off his bed, trotting to Goldenbell and looking her over.
Goldenbell shuffled under the Prince's unwavering grey stare.
"Alright. I guess I can." He said, simply, going right back to his book.
~
"Goldenbell, turn to the five hundredth page of The History of Equestria."
The unicorn looked at her mentor, who was pacing back and forth along the floor, watching her like a hawk. Taijitsu had let them use the old study in the back of the castle, providing a dark, dusty place to work. The room was small, too, the multiple statues and odd specimens in jars making it seem even smaller.
"Why?" Goldenbell said, keeping her eye on Embane.
Embane sighed and stopped directly behind her, opening the book before his apprentice with magic. "Because I told you too."
"That's not a valid excuse." Goldenbell said gently, trying not to spike his temper.
Embane was shaping up to be a mediocre mentor, frequently using the above to answer every question. He snapped if she asked too many questions, but when they actually got to study, Embane truly knew his magic. Goldenbell never thought there were so many spells she could learn.
"I wanted you to learn about my
siblings." Embane said quietly. He pointed at the illustration with a quill.
It was of two alicorns, one white and the other dark blue. She read the page, hoping to satisfy her mentor.
It told of two sisters, born to save Equestria from a menace named Discord. After turning him to stone with the fabled Elements of Harmony they received from Taijitsu, they ruled together from a city named Canterlot. However, the sister of the night was corrupted by her own greed and jealousy, transforming into the villain Nightmare Moon. The day sister was forced to banished her kin to the moon, but eventually she was brought back to the light by the very weapons that banished her.
Goldenbell looked at Embane, feeling pity for him. Something that wasn't in the book was that both had been killed by Nightmare a couple years ago. She assumed the grief was still fresh on his heart.
"Did you ever get to meet them?" She whispered.
Embane averted his eyes. "After Luna returned from being Nightmare Moon, she and Celestia came to visit me. I was very young, so I don't remember much about them. Father told me so many stories about them... I told myself I would become as successful as they were."
"It must be odd," Goldenbell murmured. "to be born for a certain purpose, not because Taijitsu wanted a foal."
Embane sighed. "You get use to it. Still, sometimes I kinda think what it will be like to fight Nightmare, to defeat him in combat. It's sorta scary."
He shook his head. "We should get back to studying. Turn to page three hundred ninety four in your spell book..."
~
Goldenbell trotted into Embane's room, as the Prince hadn't showed for their study time today.
The unicorn mare was carrying the book Embane had told her to read for homework at her side, ready to give him a vocal report on it.
She found her mentor lying on his bed, deep in sleep. A book was sitting directly in front of his face, so she assumed Embane had fell asleep reading it.
Goldenbell smiled softly, moving to the end of the bed to get a closer look at her mentor.
His dark mane hung in his eyes, curtaining his sharp cheekbones. Embane's slender sides slowly moved up and down in a rhythmic patten, likes waves washing against the shore. One of his long legs twitched in sleep, which made Goldenbell laughed a bit. He must be dreaming, she thought. She leaned in, hearing the breath escape from his nostrils. He looked so vulnerable laying there, the opposite of the stern mentor he usually is. In a way, Goldenbell found him beautiful, like she could just...
Goldenbell jumped back, skin hot under her fur. She shook her head wildly, trying to clear whatever she had been thinking out of her head. That was her mentor! She couldn't like him like that! She gritted her teeth, practically steaming. She had come for class, not to ogle over her mentor like the heroine in a romance novel! But then again, they were the same age...
She stifled a yawn, realizing why Embane was sleeping on the job. If Goldenbell thought she had long nights doing the work Embane set before her, he had prepare the lesson plans and figure out what for her to study.
Turning to leave her mentor at peace, Goldenbell levitated a blanket from the closet and draped it around Embane's shoulders.
"Good night." She whispered.
End of short story
Toxic pulled himself out of bed, ready for a new day. He sloppily brushed his mane, then ran out the door after pulling on his cloak.
In a weird way, his cloak was his closest companion. His father had given it to him when he was just starting school, to hide his wings. As he furthered in magic, Toxic enchanted the cloak, making it invincible towards levitation spells and to make the fabric grow with him.
Toxic was weary of his alicorn attributes, mostly because his father had told him that the public wasn't ready for another alicorn. Embane explained that, other than the nobles and his friends, ponies believed that alicorns were god-like creatures. This was partly true, due to their high magic power and seemingly eternal life. Alicorns weren't originally meant to be leaders when Taijitsu made his first daughter, Deus, to civilize the country of Equestria. But the ponies saw her as a mighty creature, making her their Princess, after hearing she was the daughter of royalty. Ever since then, it was custom for an alicorn to take the thrown.
Inside, Toxic was afraid the subjects of Equestria, or at least Eclipse, would be furious, or even frightened of this reveal. Before he had come of age, Embane claimed Toxic was their adoptive son, a unicorn. When he became an adult, Embane and Goldenbell promoted him to noble status. It was a rather odd set-up, but he has gotten used to it.
Toxic trotted into the kitchen, where Ellar greeted him. The pegasus was preparing breakfast for all the nobles; this usually included a yummy assortment of various fruits, vegetables, jellies, jams, juices, different kinds of bread, waffles, pancakes,and sweet pastries. Toxic's mouth watered thinking about it.
"Good morning, Prince." Ellar murmured, absentmindedly checking the brownness on a batch of toast. "You're up early."
"Yes," Toxic giggled. "It feels refreshing to get an early start to the day. I plan on going to the bazaar today, so I want to be able to get to the good stuff first."
"You can sit down at the table," Ellar murmured. "breakfast is nearly ready. I was about to call the rest of the ponies to eat."
Toxic nodded, taking a seat at the broad, wooden breakfast table. It could seat over thirty ponies, but it was barely used to its full capacity. Only when Embane had foreign ambassadors over was the table completely occupied.
Later, the nobles slowly came in after Ellar's call, a bleary eyed Silverfox arriving last. Silverfox stumbled into the seat beside Toxic, muttering a good morning.
Breakfast began soon after, everyone digging in on the smorgasbord of food. Toxic politely ate some buttered toast, while Silverfox shamelessly helped herself to large amounts of jelly. Radar ate his weight in waffles, which he quickly declared he would work off during flight practices. Embane and Goldenbell shared a plate of powdered sugar covered pastries, while Cross quietly ate some fruit. Infinity and Hatchet ate bread covered in jam, while Ellar himself ate a little bit of everything. It was a good breakfast.
After finishing his food, Toxic said goodbye to his friends and left the castle. He went straight out to the center of town, where the bazaar was located.
Toxic shuffled the money in his cloak pocket. He planned on getting his closest friends something nice, he wanted to find a interesting book for Silverfox, a nice bracelet or necklace for Diamondshine, and a toy for one of her cats for Catfight. He wanted to to be a surprise, though, so he didn't tell anyone where he was going. He hoped he didn't run into them in town.
Toxic arrived at the booksellers, and started to browse their merchandise.
"Do you have anything by H.P. Heartcraft?" He inquired, only to receive a strange look.
He had never really thought much about Silverfox's favorite author, but because of how much she fangirled about him, Toxic quickly inferred he wrote some messed up books. Toxic awkwardly left the store, hoping to find a pony who sold more archaic books.
Whist looking for a jewelry store, Toxic was daydreaming. He wasn't even paying attention when he suddenly stumbled on a rock in the road, tripping him. Jerked back into reality, Toxic pulled himself up, heart sinking into his stomach when he heard fabric ripping.
"Kitsu, look!" A pony cried, "H-he's an alicorn! Look at his wings!"
Toxic heard the ripples of gasps spreading through the bazaar, the alicorn freezing up. In his peripheral vision, he saw the ripped remains of his cloak lying in the dirt.
The townsfolk cried and pointed, some pulling their foals closer.
A brave stallion trotted to him, showing no fear. "What kind of alicorn are you?! Are you here to overthrow Embane and take Equestria for yourself?!"
"No!" Toxic cried, hot tears running down his cheeks. "No, never!"
"Look at his cutie mark!" A earth pony screamed. "It's a skull and crossbones! That has to mean something horrible!"
"What are you the Prince of, huh, Toxic? Is that even your real name? You've lied about everything else. What's the cutie mark mean? Destruction, death, pain?" The stallions snarled, shoving his snout in Toxic's face.
He couldn't bring himself to even say his true talent. The ponies wouldn't take poison very well, he assumed.
"I always knew he was no good!" A mare exclaimed. "He has an aura of creepiness around him. And no one could wear a cloak all the time without have something to hide!"
A pegasus wrapped his wings around his foal. "Only two alicorns should be allowed! He has no reason to be one, it doesn't make sense!"
Toxic was shaking uncontrollably, eyes quivering. He couldn't believe it-this was his nightmare scenario. One of his biggest fears. He gritted his teeth, feeling magic come to his horn, cracking ominously. Young unicorns had trouble controlling their magic, but Toxic had never grown out of this. His above average magic got out of control in times of extreme stress.
"Don't be harsh!" Shrieked another mare. "He could kill us all with a wink!"
All of the ponies that surrounded him took a step back, fear flickering in their eyes. Toxic shook his head rapidly, sobbing.
"He's already preparing a spell!"
As a full storm of magic surrounded the alicorn's horn, the townsfolk braced themselves, sparing a second to glare at their would-be attacker.
"SHUT UP!" Toxic screamed, unleashing a magic beam into the sky. A sickly aura blasted around him, making all the ponies in the vicinity gag. "Leave me alone, LEAVE ME ALONE!" He sobbed, roughly yanking feathers from his wings. He paused, feeling his teeth hit raw skin. Eyes blurred with tears, Toxic spread his wings, not caring if he had ripped out any flight feathers.
His mockers took some weary steps back, possibly realizing just what they had done.
With an anguished scream, Toxic took to the air, going the opposite direction of the castle. He just flew, with no care where he was going. All he cared about was getting away.
He landed in a secluded part of Eclipse, shaking and panting. Toxic fell on his haunches, letting long, rough breaths travel down his body. He searched around him, seeing a bridge with a moderately deep river under it. It was a good three or four feet over his head. He trotted to the bank, staring at his wavering reflection in the water. The rushing water looked...somewhat appealing. What did it matter if he, theoretically, just "fell" in? The news of him being an alicorn was spreading all over town by now. It was only a matter of time before it would go to other cities and villages. He would be hated for being a liar. His parents would be hated. Even the nobles were in on the secret.
Only so many ponies would miss me, Toxic thought bitterly. In his nineteen years, Toxic had only managed to make three close friends. Speaking of them, he had probably screwed them over by having them be his secret keepers too. He wasn't sure how they would take that. His friends were pretty social. Silverfox's pride wouldn't allow her to work under a pseudonym. Diamondshine loved his social life. Catfight had to have customers to sell her cats to.
Toxic sighed heavily. He couldn't believe how fast this day had gone completely wrong.
Walking to the edge of the bridge, Toxic peeked over the side. He was a good five feet over the sloshing water. Toxic imagined what it would be like to fall in; the feeling of water rushing into his ears and nose, his lungs crying out for air, finally letting go his final breath. He shuddered. It was a morbid thought.
But at the edge of his mind, it sounded kinda nice. He wouldn't have to be constantly afraid of his looks all the time. And now, he figured it didn't even matter now.
Gathering up bravery, Toxic stuck his head further over the bridge. It was rather easy too, which scared Toxic. Could he really throw himself off this bridge?
"Toxic! Hey, Toxic!" The alicorn jerked his head.
Silverfox was running toward him, quickly approaching the bridge.
The mare plopped down beside him, looking confused. "What are you doing here?" She leaned. "Why aren't you wearing your cloak."
Toxic shrugged.
She put her hooves on his shoulders. "You're a mess. What happened?"
"I need you to go. I want to be alone." He whispered.
She narrowed her eyes. "Toxic, you can tell me anything."
Toxic's face burned. He knew he could tell her anything. And for most of his life, he had. But today, right now, he wasn't sure he could. This was too personal.
He stuck a smile on his face. "I'm preparing a surprise for you all. I don't want you to see it beforehand. It wouldn't be right." Toxic hoped he wasn't shaking too visibly.
Silverfox got up, looking slightly hurt. "Oh, ok. I was just... You just looked pretty rough." She shrugged. "I'll see you at the castle..?" With a final look, she trotted off.
After she had left, Toxic sat at the edge of the bridge, letting his hind legs hang loosely. He just thought, about life, about his friends. Just really about everything. He didn't realize he had been gone so long when he saw the sun setting over the horizon. Toxic gritted his teeth, trying not to cry.
He allowed himself to sway a little, another one of the "teases" he kept doing on the bridge. He couldn't bring himself to jump, but maybe he would just slip and fall while he was doing that.
As darkness settled across Toxic's sitting place, he heard a little thump.
He looked over, sniffling.
A pony sat beside him, seemingly all black. He had gentle brown eyes, and if he looked closely, Toxic saw glowing words scrawled across his fur.
"Toxic.... That's your name, right?" The stallion whispered. Toxic noticed he was a unicorn.
Toxic nodded. "Who are you?"
"My name doesn't really matter." The strangers presence reminded him of something he couldn't put his hoof on. "But I am here to help sad magic users like you. Tell me, Toxic, what is ailing you?"
For some reason, the stranger's presence calmed him. Toxic's shoulders relaxed and he told his entire story. During this, he felt like he was in some sort of daze, like he was half asleep.
"Oh..." The stranger murmured. "That's very tragic. What to do, what to do." His voice itself seemed to be magic, deep and dark, with bits of humor laced in. "Ah, I know." Shadowy magic sparks formed at his horn, and a necklace popped out of nowhere beside Toxic.
Toxic glared at the jewelry. It had some kind of alicorn modeled on it, the pony's eyes red jewels.
"I don't need a necklace." Toxic muttered.
The shadow pony laughed. "Toxic, my friend, this is no mortal necklace! This is an amulet. The Alicorn Amulet, to be exact."
Toxic felt like the pony was mocking him. "How is this supposed to help me?"
"This amulet will make you feel happy, like there is no care in the world."
"And?"
"And?" The pony said.
"This always has some kind of draw back. What bad is going to happen to me?" Toxic hissed. He was feeling unusually anger.
"It will greatly enhance your magic power. That's all." The pony said, pushing the item forward.
Toxic looked down, contemplating whether he should accept it. The entire situation was rather odd, but that amulet was very alluring. Swallowing, Toxic levitated the necklace around his throat, gasping when he felt an strange feeling travel through his body.
Unknowing to him, Toxic's eyes flashed red. The shadow pony smiled.
"I must be going." He said, only to vanish the next second.
Toxic didn't care.
~
Silverfox paced the floor, waiting for Toxic to return. She was worried, he didn't usually stay out all day. He wasn't the kind of stallion to stay out this late without alerting someone first.
Her ears twitched at the doors opening. Toxic pranced through the door, a gleeful smile on his face.
"Oh hey, Toxic! I was getting worried." Silverfox said, walking up to her friend.
"No need to worry." Toxic said dreamily.
"Son, you finally came home!" Embane's deep voice said behind them. The Prince went to his son, looking slightly disappointed. "I haven't assigned you a curfew, but you must tell me if you are going to be out so late."
Toxic's cheerful demeanor didn't waver. "My deepest apologies, father dearest. I promise I will never make you worry like that again." He giggled, like a giddy schoolmare. "But now I need to retire to my bedroom, please excuse me." Toxic trotted away toward the stairs, adding a skip to every other step.
Silverfox blinked, very confused. "What...what was that? 'Father Dearest'?" She looked at Embane in horror. "Do you think he discovered drugs? And is, like, tripping out or something?"
"Toxic's a pretty happy pony, but that was defiantly odd." Embane murmured. He glared at her. "And if what you said was true, well, I will track down whatever drug dealer did...this."
Embane squinted. "What was around his neck? Toxic isn't really one for jewelry."
"It seems so familiar.." Silverfox said. "I have defiantly seen it before, in a book." She shook her her rapidly. "I gotta go, Prince. I'm gonna pull an all-nighter until I find what that necklace is." The mare sped off, leaving Embane without any answers.
~
The next morning, Toxic awoke in a similar mood as the morning before, but this particular mood was entirely artificial.
The amulet was obviously doing something to his mind, but Toxic didn't care or possibly even know. After slipping the necklace on, he was filled with an incorruptible gleefulness that he couldn't explain. Despite not doing so well on the inside, on the outside, Toxic was all smiles.
In addition to this, he had been experiencing blistering headaches all morning. His ears rung quite loudly, all while his head pounded. It was like a war was going on inside his head. In some of his worse spells, he bit his lip until it bled just to keep himself from crying out. It was the only time where his happiness broke.
It wasn't pleasant at all.
Toxic pranced into the breakfast room, feeling the pangs of a oncoming headache. He plopped beside Silverfox, smiling brightly. The mare didn't return his cheerful greeting. Her nose was stuck in a rather large book, the pile of sweet foods in front of her untouched.
Humming all the while, Toxic ate his breakfast, offering the food he didn't eat to Radar, who seemed to have made a contest about how many calories he could burn in one day.
After helping a very confused Ellar wash dishes, Toxic left the castle. He wasn't sure where he was going, his legs seemed to be moving themselves. Toxic added this to the ever growing list of unintended unpleasant side effects.
He fully noticed he wasn't wearing his cloak, but this barely irked him. The memory of the events of yesterday stuck bitterly in his mind. It didn't matter anymore, he reminded himself.
He soon found himself in an unfamiliar part of Eclipse. From here, Toxic had a nice view of the old Canterlot castle, its majestic ruins shining in the early morning sun.
"Toxic, are you upset?" A voice whispered in his ear. When the alicorn searched around, no one was there.
Oh dear, I must be going crazy, Toxic thought, humming all the while.
His eye twitched when he felt a sort of pinch at the edge of his mind. The alicorn amulet's eyes glowed slightly. "I'm talking to you," the same voice hissed, sounding peeved.
"I am upset," Toxic said out loud, feeling a bit strange. "But you won't let me show it." He had pinned down the location of the voice, it was the amulet.
"You should be upset," it whispered viciously. "You are a danger to others. You have no control of your magic."
Toxic swallowed, his throat felt dry and painful.
"Your little friends-the two unicorns and the pegasus-are just friends with you because you needed a leash, someone to keep your powers in check."
"W-What?" Toxic spluttered out.
"Face it, Toxic. You're pathetic. You are no true alicorn, just a unicorn with wings. An alicorn without a purpose. And everyone knows it, too." The voice paused, allowing him to take in the information. "Ponies have to be nice to you. If not, there would be trouble with your father."
Toxic's shoulders slumped. "I-I.." His voice trailed off.
"But Toxic," the voice continued. "If you allow me to invade yourself a bit further, all of these struggles will go away. I promise."
Toxic absentmindedly touched the Alicorn Amulet. "Really?" He paused, a silly smile still stuck on his face. "Will it hurt?"
The voice chuckled a little. "Of course not."
~
Silverfox ran with great urgency, desperate to find her friend. She had been reading late into the night, looking for answers to Toxic's odd behavior. She had finally discovered a book with a description of it, right after the alicorn left the castle.
The trinket was called the Alicorn Amulet, a type of amplifier artifact found in Equestria. It boosted the user's magic power, but it corrupted them greatly. The method of corruption was unusual. It took an aspect of the user-for example, Toxic's cheerfulness- and amplifies it along with magic power. Like, if a pony was prideful, the Alicorn Amulet would make them into a megalomaniac. And the worst part: an outside source can't remove the amulet. The user has to willingly take it off.
Silverfox spotted her friend sitting in the empty part of Eclipse, head down and not facing her. Filled with new hope, the mare ran to her friend.
"Toxic! Are you okay?" She said urgently. "I know what's going on-I can help you."
Toxic's wings twitched, the muscles churning and a couple feathers falling into the dirt. He turned his head, revealing his usual bright green eyes were a blood-colored red. He was no longer smiling, instead his face lined with agony.
"Get away." He hissed. "I am a danger. A hazard."
Toxic rose to his hooves and he started to paw the ground furiously. Silverfox backed away cautiously, understanding the primal signs of aggression.
Toxic froze suddenly, gasping as if someone had punched him in the stomach.
"Silverfox..." He sobbed. "Get away from me.." He sounded more like himself than he had been for the last day or so.
With a hurting, animalistic scream, Toxic fired a beam of magic above his head. It split into several smaller rays, surrounding him in a sickly green ball of crackling magic.
Silverfox drew back in horror as Toxic's silhouette writhed and grew before her eyes. The sounds of bones cracking and regrowing came to her ears, along with his frenzied screams. From the ball of magic, she saw the blazing eyes of the Alicorn Amulet illuminate brightly, and seemed to grow too.
The magic fizzled away, leaving a good amount of smoke flowing in the wind. Toxic stood in its midst, head held high
Silverfox backed away, green eyes wide. Toxic had grown into a full alicorn size, as tall as his mother and father now. His mane had also gotten longer, now tumbling over his shoulders and on his face. Toxic's horn had nearly doubled in length, and his wingspan practically doubled too. The Alicorn Amulet had transformed into something much more impressive, now more of a breastplate with an alicorn symbol than a necklace.
"Toxic, are you okay?" Silverfox said feebly, knowing fully that her friend was most certainly not okay. She raised her horn in defense, not sure what was going to happen next.
Toxic grinned, showcasing snake-like canines. "Toxic? I'm not Toxic anymore." His voice was startling, like a multitude of ponies speaking maliciously all at one time. "I am Hazard." If she strained her hearing, Silverfox could barely hear Toxic's frightened voice speaking under all the others.
"Toxic, I want you to listen to me. I know you are in there, somewhere on the inside." Silverfox gritted her teeth. "You are my best friend, I am not going to leave you like this."
Hazard's eyes glowed bright red, a green slit acting as the pupil. He snorted, pawing the ground.
"Get away. Get away." He said, his legioned voice rising in hysteria. "GET AWAY FROM ME!" He threw his head up in the air, massive amounts of magic coming to his horn.
Silverfox involuntarily gagged, she had never been exposed to this much of Toxic's poisonous magic.
Her retching was quickly interrupted by a huge beam of magic speeding towards her. She had no time to react, other than her eyes dilating in shock. When the beam came into contact with her, it exploded, leaking deadly magic energy all over.
Silverfox was thrown back from the impact, invisible blades inside the attack slicing up her skin. She coughed and heaved, managing to give a fearful look at Hazard, who stood before her.
"T-Toxic..." She whispered, blood dribbling from her jaws.
The last thing she saw was the pony that used to be her friend flying away.
~
"How could have this happened?" Embane murmured to himself, pacing the floor out of anxiety.
He had sent Radar and Scout to investigate a magical disturbance in the empty part of town. The two pegasi had turned carrying a half-dead Silverfox. The unicorn was unresponsive and barely breathing. He had sent her straight to Cross's room for emergency treatment.
They wouldn't say it to each other's faces, but Embane and Silverfox shared a mutual feeling of vitriolic friendliness. It sincerely worried the Prince about the mare's condition, but the bigger thing bothering him was what did it.
The magic felt so familiar, but he didn't want to voice his gut feeling.
It scared him.
Catfight burst into his view, the energetic pegasus flying down pthe stairs.
"EmbaneEmbaneEmbane!" She shouted.
Embane placed a hoof on her head, keeping her from crashing into him. He levitated her until they were eye level.
"Catfight, speak. But slowly." He said sternly.
"Silverfox wants to tell you something!" She spluttered.
Embane blinked, confused. "Ah. Alright then." Following her, Embane trotted (a bit faster than usual) to Cross's room/infirmary.
He really must give Cross a separate room.
Silverfox lay on her side, Diamondshine sitting worriedly beside her. Her abdomen area was bandaged heavily. The mare's flanks moved up and down very slowly, it looked like she was barely breathing.
"Cross," Embane said, looking quizzically at the unicorn stallion. "Are you sure that Silverfox is in the condition to talk?"
Cross sighed, organizing a group of herbs. "She wakes up every once and a while, muttering something rather weird. Her fever is making her delirious." He shook his head. "I wouldn't take every word she says to heart."
Catfight crouched beside her friend, tapping her gently on the shoulder.
Silverfox's eyes fluttered open, widening when she recognized Embane.
"E-Embane..." She whispered. "It's Toxic..." A shiver passed through her, her eyes beginning to droop.
Embane looked deeply startled, leaning in closer to Silverfox. "What happened, what's wrong with him?"
"The Alicorn Amulet...it took over him. It transformed him into something...something crazy. He calls himself 'Hazard'. His magic; the amulet boosted it significantly." She said gravely, her voice trailing off into a fit of coughing.
Cross interrupted, placing a bowl of thick liquid in front of her.
"Drink." He instructed. "It will make you feel better." He looked at the three ponies in the room. "I would suggest you leave. It will be easier for Silverfox to rest."
Embane nodded, leading Catfight and Diamondshine out the room with his wing.
Back in the throne room, Embane started his pacing anew.
"All of this could have been solved if we had the Element of Harmony." He muttered. "We could just gather six corresponding ponies and friendship nuke Toxic into goodliness."
"But we all know that the Elements were destroyed many, many years ago." Goldenbell murmured, coming to her mate's side.
"Should we track him down?" Catfight asked. "It's sorta like the Demonfox thingy. Me and Diamondshine just need to coax him down, then we can get that amulet off his neck."
Embane bit his lip. "Two problems about that: One, Toxic's gone way past your power level now. Two, Toxic has to take the Alicorn Amulet off himself." He had read over one of the books in the study, the room that doubled as Silverfox's room.
Just then, Radar came striding in through the front doors, followed by a less confident Scout.
"There's something at the old Canterlot castle. Not sure what, we didn't attempt to investigate." Radar announced loudly. "I know a hopeless fight when I see one."
"Thank you, Radar." Goldenbell said kindly. The tan pegasus nodded his head triumphantly.
"I thinking about calling my father." Embane murmured.
Goldenbell gasped, suddenly turning to the Prince and blinking in confusion. "What?!" She cried. "You're insane, dear. You can't be thinking correctly. Are you feeling well?"
Radar cocked his head. "What's wrong with Taijitsu? From what I have seen of him he's pretty cool. Why not call him in to fix the problem?"
"Why not?!" Goldenbell continued. "Because he is a maniac when he fights!"
Radar punched Scout in the shoulder, making the shy pegasus cringe. "Ah, c'mon, Princess. Now he sounds even more awesome!"
Embane laughed nervously. "You see, Radar, my father does not fight. He nukes everything in the area until the problem is eliminated."
"Oh."
"Yeah," he muttered. "And after a particularly tough fight, he's left too exhausted to have another fight for a couple years."
Radar frowned. "That's not exactly that cool...."
"But," Embane said, narrowing his eyes at Goldenbell. "Taijitsu's talent is balancing good and evil in a pony. I believe he could save Toxic from the Alicorn Amulet's evil magic."
Goldenbell sighed. "If you really think he could bring Toxic back, then I guess summoning Taijitsu is a given. Go on."
Embane closed his eyes, grey magic coming to his horn. His eyes suddenly ripped open, revealing they were glowing white. With a fluid motion, the alicorn Prince fired magic in the air, the beam passing through the glass sunroof like pure light. It exploded like a flare, bursting into magical fireworks.
"Now we wait." Embane murmured.
~
About an hour later, a shadow passed over the ceiling window. A figure burst through the glass, dropping to the floor below.
Taijitsu unfurled his wings, shaking his mane in an overly dramatic manner. He trotted over the broken glass like it was large chunks of crystallized sugar.
"I went out of my way not to destroy the window..." Embane muttered.
"Son!" Taijitsu cried, running at his son.
A second before the inevitable crash, the Prince of Mystic Falls changed into a foal. He clung to his son's neck, climbing up to his head and gleefully relaxing there.
"Gah, Embane, it's been months!" Taijitsu snuggled the frowning Prince's head. "What did you call me for? A party? Ooh, a party would be cool!" He raised his horn, popping a hat on his and Embane's head. On them, in golden letters, stated "Best Dad Ever" and "Best Son Ever."
Catfight and Diamondshine snickered.
Radar smiled a grin of audacity and yelled at the father and son, "Hey, Embane! Do you love your daddy as much as he loves you?"
If it wasn't for the fur on his face, Embane would have been red from embarrassment.
"Oh, where's my little grandson? I wanna see him!" Taijitsu chittered.
Embane's eyes lowered, shaking the hat off his head, it disappearing in mid-air. "That's the problem. The Alicorn Amulet has taken over Toxic."
The black and white alicorn slipped off Embane's neck, the hat vaporizing off his head. He returned to his full size, fear and worry flashing in his white eyes.
"I had no idea." He whispered, bowing slightly.
"I thought you might be able to fix him.." Embane murmured, shying away.
"I can. But I need someone to go with me. I have to have someone to protect me while I charge the spell." Taijitsu said, looking at Goldenbell and Embane.
Goldenbell's eyes wavered. "I'm sorry, Prince, but I cannot fight my own son, if that is what you are entailing." She said sternly.
Embane nuzzled his mate. "It's alright, Goldenbell. Cast a protection spell around the castle. I have no idea were this fight will go." The mare nodded.
"Radar said that he found something odd at the old Canterlot castle." Embane said, turning his attention to his father.
"I guess that's where we begin."
"But we are not fighting there. We need to lead him someone more secluded, where there is no chance of a bystander getting injured." Embane murmured, moving toward the door.
The father and son set out to challenge the grandson.
~
"This place is pretty nice!" Taijitsu remarked, gazing at the scenery of the Canterlot castle. "I guess Celestia and Luna learned some points of architecture from me."
The ruins were quite creepy at the dusk hour, the hour Embane had chosen so he would be at full power. The light of the moon reflected off the stones and shattered glass, making long shadows that made the two stallions slightly weary. Embane noticed that despite being in the place his daughters were killed, Taijitsu was looking on the bright side of things. He must have felt something, Embane thought, because when they passed the site of Celestia's shed blood, Taijitsu turned his head quickly and remarked on the stained glass windows. He rationalized that he was putting on a nice show to keep himself from being paralyzed with grief.
Embane had never thought of his father as that complex.
They came to a large, open room with most of the walls destroyed. It was dark, but a familiar smell came to Embane's snout.
Toxic.
"Whoever is there, come out now!" Embane commanded in a deep baritone.
Taijitsu stood beside him, sensing the danger. He crouched slightly, eyes narrow and lips drawn back in a snarl.
A flash of red eyes caught Embane's attention. Embane nodded at Taijitsu, who summoned light to his horn, illuminating the entire area.
Hazard immediately became visible, hissing and rearing at the sudden brightness. In a frenzied manner, he slung his head, preparing a magical attack.
"There is a plain out to the west. Lets lead him there!" Embane said quickly, taking flight. Taijitsu followed, dodging the beam that Hazard fired.
With a glance behind him, Embane realized that Hazard had taken the bait and was following them. Good, he thought, taking a sharp left turn, maybe this battle will be over quick and easy.
Naturally, this wasn't going to happen.
They led Hazard to the empty plain and prepared for battle.
"We must weaken him before I can cast the spell." Taijitsu explained, watching Hazard in the distance, who was kicking and snarling. "It will be easier for me to balance out a pony with little resistance."
"Be careful, Father." Embane looked serious. "This is still my son. Don't do anything that could mortally wound him."
"I will try my best."
With that short conversation, Embane and Taijitsu lunged into combat. Taijitsu went left while Embane banked right; they were shooting to trap him.
Hazard reared and shot a huge beam of magic at Embane, who counterattacked with a beam of his own. The magic clashed, green against grey, resulting in a massive explosion. All of the combatants where thrown back, but Taijitsu flew straight back through the smoke, charging a spell.
What the Prince launched from his horn could not even be considered a "beam" or a "laser". This was the equivalent of small nuclear explosion that was fired from Taijitsu's horn. The sheer energy generated was amazing, causing a furrowed place in the ground tracing the path and shock waves that threw everything(and everyone) back that was in a thirty feet radius.
The magic submersed Hazard, completely erasing him from sight.
"Father, I said go easy!" Embane hissed.
"That was easy!"
Turns out there was no reason to worry. When the smoke cleared, Hazard stood, completely unscathed, surrounded by a red force field generated by the Alicorn Amulet. Perhaps in a show of power, the amulet's red eyes glowed brighter.
"How?!" Taijitsu shrieked.
Embane surged forward, at light speed, crashing into Hazard's shield. Lighting his horn with magic, he repeatedly stabbed it, each blow corresponding with massive shockwaves. Hazard tried to struggle under Embane's sheer strength, but putting down the shield was suicide, but then again, letting it survive against the Prince's rage was dangerous too.
A crack shot up the construct of magic, causing Hazard's willpower to fade and Embane's to skyrocket. He crashed open the shield, slamming Hazard point blank with a beam of magic. The corrupted alicorn flew several feet back, making a crater in the dirt.
"Protect me! I'm preparing a major spell!" Embane cried, surging upward.
Taijitsu nodded, patrolling under his son in case Hazard recovered quicker than planned.
Embane flew in front of the moon, the light silhouetting him. He, along with his horn, was cloaked in grey magic, eyes white with sheer power. With a cry of rage, tendrils of magic blasted out of him, grabbing Hazard and consuming him in a storm of power.
Embane allowed himself a sigh of relief, hanging his head low.
To his surprise, Hazard burst out of the attack with his own magic, snorting and snarling. He ignored Embane, lunging at Taijitsu.
The Prince had no reaction, raising his horn and summoning a mountain from the ground to act as a shield. Hazard blasted through it with ease, preparing a beam of magic.
Taijitsu reared back, eyes glowing. He fired the spell from before, except it was more aimed to the ground. The explosion of magical energy blew Hazard into the ground, the "beam" being about twenty times thicker than his body. Taijitsu summoned wind to clear the smoke, and Embane flew down to join him.
"Do you think that was too much?" The Prince of Mystic Falls murmured, shaking his black and white mane.
"I'm not sure... But you might want to start preparing that balancing spell." Embane said, trying to see through the thinning smoke.
Hazard lay in his own, very deep, crater, his body smoking slightly. His fur looked a little burnt and his eyes were forced closed.
"He's not dead." Taijitsu said, trying to be helpful.
"Get ready." Embane commanded, walking toward Hazard.
Behind him, Taijitsu closed his eyes, black and white magic swirling around him and encircling him.
Embane held his horn at Hazard, just in case he regained consciousness.
Taijitsu nodded at his son, now fully encased in magic. Embane jumped out of the way, not wanting to be caught in Taijitsu's spell. A beam, half black and half white, slammed into Hazard, lifting him into the air.
Embane squinted against the bright light, shielding his eyes with his wings.
Taijitsu stood beside him, smiling slightly.
The light subsided, and a small form dropped to the ground.
"Toxic!" Embane explained, running to his son.
Toxic was curled up on his side, watching his father approach him with terror filled eyes.
"Father..!" He whispered, his voice cracking.
Embane placed his hoof on Toxic's chest, touching the Alicorn Amulet. "I want you to take that off, okay?" He asked gently.
Not taking his eyes off his father, Toxic slung the amulet off. Once the necklace hit the ground, Embane fired magic at it, destroying it completely.
Toxic struggled into a sitting position, gazing at the wreckage around them in horror. "What happened...? What did I do..?"
"Toxic, do have any idea what was done today?" Embane said calmly.
Toxic shook his head. "Today feels..really blurry." He swallowed. "But the town found out I am an alicorn. They freaked out."
Embane patted his son on the head, looking at him with a slightly sad expression. "If you wish, I will erase that from the townsfolk's minds. It want harm them, they will just forget that they ever saw you today and yesterday. Is that alright?"
Toxic nodded.
"One more thing," Embane murmured, helping his son up. "Never, ever mess with strange magic."
"Yes sir."
End of Story 10
Story one: Demonfox
i wuz walking into palice wen i saw toxic. "hey darkness raven grey eyes embony" he said"you r the princez fom the other place right" i smile and spred my alicorn wings "i juss cant belive how beautifull u r" he said blush
my beautiful embony fur shimered in the light and my dep dark eyes refleced like to beautiful pools of beauty toxoc show me my room. it was built for a princez liek me i layed down on de bed and then toix snuggled besid me. then we started to-
"Egh! Disgusting!" Silverfox exclaimed as she threw the scroll into the fire.
"Just another Mary Sue-self insert fan fiction! Can't these ponies be a bit creative?!" They grey unicorn moaned, looking at the remaining scrolls she had to read. Shaking her head, she trotted over to a large, purple skinned book sitting on her reading desk. It was titled "The History Of Equestria". Using her magic, Silverfox flipped it open.
The first chapter described how a mysterious force called Nightmare had started a country wide war with Equestria. Sadly, however, Nightmare's army was too strong. The three princesses(and possibly a forth one, the book didn't mention her much), Celestia, Luna, and Twilight Sparkle, were all killed in an attempt to protect the castle in a city named Canterlot. Weakened by the loss, the rest of Equestria quickly fell. Of course, no one remembered this, mostly because it happen thousands of years ago.
The next chapter talked about how Nightmare ruled Equestria with a iron hoof for another thousand years. But then, hope arrived. From a far away land called Mystic Falls, came an army led by an alicorn and his student, a unicorn. Along with his forces, the remaining ponies fought with renewed vigor, defeating Nightmare. This alicorn, named Embane, was quickly dubbed prince and ruler of Equestria, along with his now alicorn student/mate Goldenbell. Now, every winter, all the ponies hold in memory what is now called The Great Alicorn War.
Silverfox found all this ancient history really interesting. But, she figured she needed to get back to work. The unicorn glanced at the pile of scrolls. She had a lot to go.
Suddenly, she heard a knock at her door.
"Hey Silver, do you mind if I come in?" Toxic's quiet voice asked.
"Oh course, Toxic. You know I don't mind." Silverfox called over her shoulder.
Toxic nosed open the door and walked in. Toxic, Embane's son, was one of Silverfox's only friends. They had been best friends ever since they were foals.
"Oh. You're still going through the mail. Anything interesting?" The black and green alicorn ask.
"Just the normal. Crappy fan fictions, insane request letters, ect." Silverfox paused. "Well, I did find one interesting fan fiction today. But it was a yaoi."
Toxic cocked his head. "Yaoi? What's that?"
The grey unicorn had an awkward look on her face. "Y'know, 'guy on guy'? Slash?"
"Ew."
"Yeah," she agreed, "but it was really well written. I only threw it out when you and Diamondshine started making out."
Diamondshine was another pony in Silverfox's small friend circle. He is a rather narcissistic unicorn, and is a close friend to Toxic.
"W-why would someone send us that?!" Toxic exclaimed.
The scrolls weren't actually sent to Silverfox herself. They were the royal palace's mail.
"I dunno. But Embane accepts all kinds of letters and stories. It's probably to make sure I know he doesn't exactly like me to live here."
About a year ago, Silverfox had made an agreement with Embane: she gets to live in the castle, but also has to read all the crap that kingdom sends the royal family. It was horrid, but she manage to stick to it because she had somewhere to live and food to eat.
Toxic shrugged. "When you get done, do you want to go out to town square with me? We could eat lunch."
Silverfox laughed. "If that's the case, I'll just go with you now! I have some books that I have written. Maybe I can make some money off them." She levitated her satchel onto herself, filling the plain leather bag with various pamphlets and cloth-bound books.
Soon the pair arrived in the town square of Ponyville, one of the oldest cities in Equestria. Silverfox had claimed a small booth, decorating it with black velvet curtains and soft rugs. She called it "Silverfox's Store Of Lore and Reads." Ponies loved rhymes.
As she set out her works, Toxic stood on the other side of the stand, wearing a dark cloak. Toxic was a bit shy about his alicorn looks, he was afraid the other ponies would try to accuse him of being "too perfect" or such. So, he wore that to hide his wings. As far as the other ponies knew, Toxic was just a unicorn noble.
"Silverfox, are you sure you wanna run the booth on your own?" He murmured worriedly.
"Toxic," Silverfox said, audibly stressed, "I'm a big mare now." She turned to look him in the eyes. "Unless you're scared to go around alone." She teased.
Toxic shook his head. "No! It's not like that.....But if anyone tries to steal from you or something like that....!" The alicorn stopped himself before he went into details.
"I understand." The grey mare nudged her satchel, levitating out a switchblade with her magic. "But I think I will be fine."
Toxic smiled. "Why did I ever get you that?" He said before trotting away.
Now then, Silverfox thought, let the business begin. She could practically see swarms of ponies rushing to her booth, begging to be enlightened by her marvelous works, such as "Top Ten Black Magic Spells and Curses(with reviews!)", her analysis of the Heartcraft Mythos, and "Dark Spells For Dummies".
So she waited.
And waited.
Twenty minutes later, she was completely enraged. No one had even given her booth a passing glance! Silverfox laid down on her fluffy rug. This was not the day she planned.
"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" A familiar voice called from above. Too stunned to react, Silverfox watched dumbly as a streak of brown zoomed into her booth. Catfight. Silverfox tried to restore her mane to its original emo-bang glory, but to no avail.
"CAT! WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?!" Silverfox screamed at the brown pegasus.
"Calm down! I was just giving you a visit!"
Silverfox ran her hoofs down her mane, "Gaaahhh! You know I hate wind!" She looked at her book display. "At least they survived unscathed..." She whispered dramatically, reaching her hoofs feebly towards them.
"You reeaallyy got to get out more, Silver." Said Catfight, blowing a stray pink hair that escaped from her cat eared hat. Suddenly, she turned around and looked down the road.
"What's wrong?" Silverfox said, stretching her neck around the side of the booth.
"Well, I though Diamondshine was behind me. I really hope that pansy hurried up, he was holding Sassy and Smokey for me while I flew."
"Waaaaaaaaaaaeeeehhhhhh!" The mares ears pricked at the tale tell scream of their friend.
Silverfox raised her eyebrow. "I believe we've found him."
They indeed did. The golden unicorn was running towards them, Catfight's aggressive pets running after him.
"Siiiillveerrrrfooooxxx! Those demonic creatures are trying to kill me!!" Diamondshine exclaimed, gaining him several strange looks from passerby ponies.
"Sorry Dia! I don't do animals!" Silverfox said, trying to hold in her laughter. She nudged Catfight and said quietly, "You might wanna help him." The cat lover nodded and flew in his direction.
Minutes later, Diamondshine was smoothing down his mane, trying to retain any dignity he had left. Sassy and Smokey, however, seemed rather content with turning the unicorn into public embarrassment.
"Anyway," he said to Silverfox dramatically, "since you are busy, I want Catfight to assist me to the gem polisher's booth." He looked at his gold bracelet longingly. "I can barely see myself in the reflection...."
Catfight smiled and clamped him hard on the shoulder, causing him to cringe.
"That I can do. C'mon, pretty boy!" She said gleefully as she dragged Diamondshine off.
Silverfox continued to arrange the books in other ways. She was getting desperate. Finally, two earth pony mares walked by.
"Good morning, earth ponies!" Silverfox exclaimed, trying to get a cheerful disposition.
One of the mares, a green furred one, spoke:
"What's a lore?!"
Then the other one:
"I think it's some kind of food."
Silverfox's eyes twitched and her smile nearly wavered.
"A 'lore' is a legend or tradition, usually passed by mouth."
"But why are they in books then?" The green mare ask.
Silverfox groaned. "Because I wrote them down."
The other mare rolled her eyes. "Whatever, lets just see what you have written." The pink mare flipped through a book detailing the various creatures that populated Equestria.
The mare's smiled faded into a frown.
"So, is it good?! Did it enhance your knowledge on your surroundings?! I don't mean to brag, but I spend months researching and studying to make this book. It's one of a kind." She leaned in, excited. "Prices start at 45$!"
The pink mare continue to frown. "It's so boring! All these constant facts and junk that nopony cares about!"
Silverfox's mouth went agape. She quickly recovered and pulled a rather large book from her satchel.
"Y-You want fiction, right? Like, stories? I have one here...." Silverfox levitated the book in front of her.
This time, the green mare looked at it. She flipped page after page, becoming more and more disgusted with each flip. Finally, she closed the book quick and glared at Silverfox.
"What was that?! Vivid descriptions of blood and gore?! Weird mind screw crap?! Insanity?! Where is the romance, the comedy?"
Silverfox was in a state of complete surprise. That was one of her favorites she had written.
"It's not a romance.....nor a comedy. It's a......horror." She managed to stutter out, completely forgetting to act cheerful to customers.
"Horribly terrible!" The pink mare snorted.
"Hey, Strawberry, Minty! Whatcha looking at?" Called a voice from a group of ponies a couple feet away.
Minty (the green mare) called over her shoulder,"Just a weird writer-pony. Nothing good."
The two strutted to the other group, laughing and snickering to each other as they walked.
Silverfox gritted her teeth as hot tears streamed down her face and her sharp eyes shone with hatred. Magic flared at her horn and the curtains above her caught fire and quickly burned to ashes. She then just took off running towards the palace, completely ignoring her satchel and books.
~
Toxic felt satisfied. He carefully managed to levitate his bag of groceries and a frosted cookie he had bought at a booth. He had another tucked in the pocket of his cloak for Silverfox. She loves sweets. Nearing her booth, Toxic noticed an unusual sight.
She wasn't there.
He quickly ran over there, setting his belongings on the counter. He frantically searched for his friend, but to no avail. He found another worrying sight. She had left all of her belongings at the booth. That satchel had all of her best pencils, quills, and ink. She wouldn't jut forget them. Throwing the leather bag over his shoulder, Toxic frantically ran to every pony he could find, asking them about his friend.
"Toxic! Toxic! Toxic!" A familiar voice called. He turned to see the pegasus seer Ellar. Ellar also lived at the palace, because he was a noble with the mysterious power of sight. But, he often didn't leave the palace because he was blind.
The seer was shaking. "Prince! I'm so glad I found you!"
Toxic looked disturbed and clamped his hoof over the scrawny pegasus's mouth. "Don't say Prince! Anyway, what do you need?!" Toxic whispered.
"Y-your friend! Danger! Demonfox!" Ellar said, visibly exasperated. He swayed, and Toxic quickly supported him on his side.
"What are you talking about? Silverfox?! Do you know where she is?" Toxic said, trying to get more answers out of Ellar.
The seer's blind eyes wavered.
"The.....palace...."
The duo ran as fast as their legs would allow. Whatever danger there was, Toxic was gonna stop it.
~
Silverfox backed against her locked door, chest heaving.
She would show them.
Show them all!
She threw books to other sides of the room, looking for nothing in particular. But suddenly, a book caught her crazed eyes. It was titled the Necromancion. Silverfox had never seen nor heard of the book, and she had read every book in her room at least twice.
Giggling, she opened the book. Oddly, the book flipped itself to a page.
Silverfox's eyes widened.
The page was titled "Revenge Demon". Silverfox carefully studied the spell on the page. It wasn't hard, it just required you say the invocation and dip your horn in your own blood.
"Revenge demon, huh.....Exactly what I'm looking for....." She murmured, grinning. She shakily made an incision on his foreleg and drizzled the blood on her horn. Propping the book on a table, she began the invocation.
"From the nightmares in the forest.....that haunt the past.....darkness and light are vanquished.......THE VOID OF REVENGE RULES ALL!"
The magic on Silverfox's horn fused with her blood, causing a horribly crackling sound. Black tendrils seeped from the floor, wrapping around her hoofs and body. She was overcome with intense pain and screamed dryly. Suddenly, she began to cough, sticky black fluid running out of her mouth and onto the floor.
~
Toxic had left Ellar in the main room of the palace. He ripped off the cloak and flew up the stairs. He practically crashed into Silverfox's room.
"Silver! Open up! Tell me what's wrong!" Toxic screamed, banging on the door.
He was met with a scream mixed with pain and anguish. His heart thudded in his throat. Toxic's blood ran cold when he heard a body fall to the floor.
"No....." He whispered, assuming the worst. Using all of his strength, Toxic busted down the door. He was met with a terrifying sight. Silverfox was lying on the floor, black fluid dripping from her mouth. But she looked different. Her mane and tail had grown longer along with her horn. She stirred. Silverfox stood up shakily, as if unsure on her own legs. She focused her sharp green gaze on Toxic, then showing off a mouth full of razor teeth.
"What the? Silverfox, what happened?!" Toxic cried.
"Silverfox" laughed madly, gazing at Toxic with wild eyes.
"Who?! Your friend isn't here anymore. She's been confined to the deepest pits of her soul. She can't hear you."
"What are you?" Toxic snarled, walking dangerously towards her, stepping over books that were piled at random.
She laughed mockingly. "Just call me Demonfox." Demonfox strutted over to Toxic and placed her hoof on his head, drawing him close. "And what can I call you?" She purred.
"You want call me anything, you monster!" Toxic roared, attacking her with magic.
She retaliated with surprising power. She forcefully lifted Toxic up with magic, applying pressure onto his throat. Toxic gagged and spluttered, but couldn't speak. Her magic felt crushing and powerful.
"Now, now, dear. We just have to sit here for a minute or so until you can't hold your breath anymore. And how your going right now, it shouldn't be long." Demonfox hissed.
About twenty seconds later, Toxic's vision began to blur. He felt his conscious fading, and let out a moan and his body gave slack.
Demonfox smiled. "Good. I believe I must leave now. I have havoc to wreak and such." She let the unconscious alicorn drop to the ground. Something under her skin bulged on her back. Black, oily, and spiky wings burst through her skin. Demonfox lifted to the air, but finding the room was windowless, she just blasted through the wall that faced the outside. She leaped out the hole, flying at the fast pace away from the castle.
~
"Toxic! Toxic! Son, where in Equestria are you?" Embane called down the hallways of the castle. Ellar had said something about doom and danger, along with Toxic's name, which was something Embane couldn't stand for. Doom and danger would not touch his son if he had something to say about it.
As he passed by Silverfox's room, he remember Ellar had mentioned her. He knew that unicorn was trouble! I should have never let her live here, Embane though ruefully.
He roared at the broken door with a growing temper. "Let me in! Do you hear me, you insolent unicorn?! Open up!"
~
Toxic heard at slight banging. He moaned, then breaking into a coughing fit. His throat felt terrible!
Then he heard his father's voice.
"Father...." Toxic managed to get out.
"Son?!" Embane said, shoving the door open with ease. The Prince found his son lying on the floor breathing with difficulty. Embane kneeled at his side. "What happened here?!" He turned his attention to the gaping hole in the wall. "And how did THAT happen?!"
"Silverfox....something happened to her....now Demonfox. The she...choked me. I'm not sure what happened after..huh huh...after that.." Toxic wheezed.
Embane looked shocked. "Was Silverfox....herself?"
The weakened alicorn shook his head. "No...she said Silverfox wasn't here anymore."
Embane paced around the room until a book caught his eye. He rushed over to it, panting.
"No.....no! How did this get this get in here?" He exclaimed, flipping through the Necromancion.
"What's that? I have never seen her read that?" Toxic asked.
Embane faced his son, face grim.
"Let's go to the throne room." He said simply.
~
"So how do we stop this 'Demonfox'?" Said Catfight, cocking her head.
All the curtains in the throne room were closed because Embane, being the Prince of night, was sensitive to light. Along with him, Goldenbell, and the nobles, Toxic had rounded up Diamondshine and Catfight for the meeting.
"Well, I assume Embane and I will attend to it." Goldenbell answered, her white and gold mane shining.
Radar, the pegasus leader of the Wingblasts, fluttered in the air.
"Me and my boys and just attack her from the air! Y'know, air striiikee!" He imitated the action, punching the air with all of his hoofs.
Cross, the palace doctor, rolled his good eye (he had lost the other in an event he wouldn't speak about). "You always think violence is the best answer."
"When isn't it?!" Radar exclaimed.
Cross face hoofed.
Ellar spoke, hovering beside Embane.
"If we don't stop her soon......" He whispered, shaking.
Embane looked concerned. "What is it?! What will happen?"
"She will be too far to save...."
Toxic cleared his throat nervously. "Um...I have an idea."
All eyes faced him. "What is it, son?" Embane asked.
"I thought Dia, Catfight, and I could go after her. We are her closest friends, after all. Maybe we could knock some sense into her." Toxic said.
Embane trotted to his son, worry in his eyes. "Are you sure you want to do that?" He looked at Toxic's friends. "Are you fine with this plan?"
Diamondshine and Catfight nodded.
Suddenly, a pegasus flew into the large room.
"Radar, sir! We have detected a dangerous presence in the old Canterlot castle!"
Radar looked at the pegasus scout.
"What did you do? Attack?"
The pegasus frowned. "We tried. My team suffered a bunch of casualties, but nopony died."
"So we can assume that Demonfox is in that location, right?" Catfight said.
Embane nodded. "Yes. If you are ready, I need you to leave as soon as possible."
Toxic smiled. "I think we are ready. But," Toxic looked at his friends. "I think we might want to get some armor on or something."
Ten minutes later, now all armored up, Toxic and his friends left the palace.
"Here's the plan: Catfight and I will pull an area view on the castle and you, Dia, will go solo and see if you can track Demonfox on the ground. If you see her, try to distract her until we get there. Understood?" Toxic said, stretching his wings.
Diamondshine groaned. "So I'm the ground-ridden bait?"
Toxic and Catfight exchanged glances. "It's not like that-" Toxic began.
"But you are the ground-ridden bait...." Catfight finished to his dismay.
Toxic stepped over to his friend.
"Take this." He said, throwing his cloak on Diamondshine. "It will shield you from levitation spells. It's what Demonfox used on me.
And so, the pegasus and the alicorn took off, trying not to look at Diamondshine in the eyes.
The golden unicorn sighed and began walking. The castle quickly came into view. It was beautiful, and probably would have looked better if it had been thousands of years younger. He trotted into the huge front doors, trying to avoid the piles of rubble and broken glass. Diamondshine admired the stained glass windows, though faded and broken, as they portrayed scenes that happen long ago. He stopped in front of one that wasn't broken, it was decorated by the picture of a purple alicorn, the late Princess Twilight.
Diamondshine continued to walk, the various scenes caught in his mind. Suddenly, he stopped. He was in the throne room. Diamondshine's breath caught in his throat. The legends were true; the blood of the sun princess stained the floor in front of her throne. The atmosphere turned dark and frightening. Diamondshine started to shiver, for a reason he couldn't identify, and looked up. A sharp green eye penetrated the darkness behind the throne. The frightened unicorn backed up, overcome by fear.
Demonfox stepped out of the shadows. She grinned, happily walking towards Diamondshine.
"So our friends thought it was a good idea for you to face me ALONE?" She sarcastically asked.
"Guys!" Diamondshine screamed to the sky, his voice rising in pitch, "She's here!"
Demonfox's horn glowed with Silverfox's usual black-colored magic. Diamondshine saw magic envelope him, but Toxic's cloak canceled the spell.
Diamondshine's fear faded away, replaced with courage and anger.
"Ok, Demonfox, or whatever you like to call yourself. You have made me mad. I don't get mad a lot. But NO ONE hurts my friends." He snorted and pawed against the ground. "I don't like fighting, getting blood and dirt all over me isn't my thing. But I think I can make an exception for you." Diamondshine lunged at Demonfox, their horns clashing line swords. For over a minute, they slashed and parried at each other, replicating a sword fight. Demonfox roared with anger, shooting a magic beam from her horn. Diamondshine, unable to dodge, braced himself and retaliated with his own. The beams locked, each side moving then getting knocked back. Finally, Diamondshine started to get tired. Sweat dripping down his face, he watched with horror as he lost the battle. The magic beam flew towards him and he closed his eyes, not wanting to see his demise.
Suddenly, something hit him from the side, sending Diamondshine rolling across the floor. It was Catfight!
"Sorry we got here late!" Said the brown pegasus.
He pulled himself off the ground and gathered his bearings. His eyes widened. Toxic was fighting with Demonfox!
The two ponies threw spells at each others left and right. Toxic took to the air, trying to get an air strike. He lunged at the demon, horn first, but Demonfox parried with kicking him in the chest with his forelegs. Toxic flew across the room, slamming into a wall.
"Toxic!" Diamondshine screamed, attempting to run to his friend, only to be blocked by Catfight.
"Dia, Toxic told me while to we were flying that he was going to take Demonfox down on his own. Let him do this alone." She said, surprisingly serious.
Diamondshine sighed and nodded his head.
Toxic quickly recovered and staggered to his hoofs. Combat's not working, he thought to himself. The alicorn walked slowly towards Demonfox, with a look of sheer determination on his face. Demonfox looked confused, unsure of what he was planning.
Toxic threw himself on Demonfox, wrapping her in a hug. He rubbed his face in her fur, then yelled, "Silver, if can hear me, do something! Fight the demon!"
Demonfox suddenly started to shake. She gasp and screamed, shock in her eyes. A black mist was released from her body, then she collapsed on Toxic, now Silverfox.
Toxic was probably the most shocked. He didn't expect that to work.
Silverfox quickly came to. She opened her eyes, looking around very confused. "Um....what the heck happened? And why are you hugging me?"
Toxic smiled nervously, glad his fur covered the otherwise obvious blush.
"Guys? I'm glad you're having an awesome friendship moment, but we've got bigger problems." Catfight said, her far grim.
They did indeed have bigger problems. The Revenge Demon had reformed, now just a black, withering mass of mist in the shape of a tall pony.
Silverfox broke Toxic's grip and bravely faced the demon.
"Ha. You shouldn't be much of a problem. One of the last things I read about you was that you were powerless without a host." The unicorn looked at her friends. "I'm too weak to vanquish her all on my own. We need to combine our magic."
"What about me?" Said Catfight, feeling left out.
Silverfox laughed nervously. "Maybe you could attach a rock or something to your head, if you wanted to imitate us."
Catfight sighed.
The three ponies touched their horns together and fired the powerful spell. The huge magic blast zoomed to the demon, who was desperately trying to escape. As the magic swirled around it, the demon started to dissolve, eventually fading to nothing.
Silverfox was overcome with exhaustion and began to sway. Diamondshine quickly caught her, looking worried.
"Are you ok?!" He said.
"Yes, Dia." Silverfox groaned. "I was just possessed, got the demon forced out of me, and then preformed a powerful spell. The perfect bill of health."
Toxic smiled lightly at her sarcasm. At least she's well enough to snark, he thought. "I will just teleport us home. Then we can all can get some sleep." Toxic said, then performing the spell.
Soon the ponies were home. Diamondshine and Catfight returned to their own homes while Silverfox went straight to bed at the palace. Toxic, however, stayed awake to speak with his parents.
"So you released the demon through your friendship with Silverfox?" Goldenbell questioned.
Toxic nodded.
Embane returned from his room. He had recently burned the Necromancion. "Good job, son." He said. "Your friends are very brave, too, standing up to her like that. I suggest you get some rest right now, though."
"Right. I'm pretty tired." Toxic said, walking to his bedroom. He yawned and crawled in the bed, quickly falling asleep.
~
Silverfox was still awake. Even though she was tired, Silverfox couldn't get asleep. The events of today still buzzed in her mind. She lifted her head slightly, looking at the floor. Her satchel and books were beside the bed. Toxic or somepony must have returned them. Silverfox couldn't believe what she had done. Earlier today she had completely gone off the deep end. Snapped.
But something cheered her up. If anything, Silverfox still had three ponies that loved her.
End of story one.
Story two: Fever Dreams
Darkness.
That was all Embane could see.
Nightmare's forces-shadowy ponies with white eyes- surrounded him by the hundreds.
For every one he killed, ten more took their place.
Embane's body sagged with exhaustion. Suddenly, Nightmare's "soldiers" started to dog pile on him. They bit and hit at his body, causing him to cry out. Embane lashed out with his horn, impaling several of them, but to no avail.
This isn't how he remembered the war going.
The sky, pitch black, swirled and warped above him. Nightmare's demented white eyes appeared in the sky and Embane heard his laugh.
Finally, the alicorn's legs gave out and he collapsed onto the ground, more of Nightmare's forces piling over him.
Through his blurred vision, he saw Nightmare approach him. The white unicorn bent down, his muzzle centimeters away from Embane's.
Nightmare's shadowy tentacles pushed through his minions, gripping Embane's body. Nightmare pulled him out of the deadly dog pile, holding him by his legs and neck.
Nightmare said something that Embane couldn't hear coherently.
Then, he began to stretch Embane, causing him to scream. Embane looked around wildly, trying to find any allies.
He was completely alone.
Where was Goldenbell or his other pony forces?!
The tentacle around his neck began to tighten, cutting off his air supply.
In his terrified state, Embane completely forgot about holding his breath. His vision began to blur.
Embane let out a choked sob as he lost conscious.
"Embane, wake up!"
The alicorn Prince's eyes snapped open, focusing on Goldenbell.
"What-?" He murmured, confused.
Goldenbell lay beside him, her wing around him.
"You were having a nightmare, a pretty nasty one, at that." Goldenbelle said gently.
Embane nodded, and suddenly a shiver passed through him. He groaned and laid his head down, feeling horrible.
Goldenbell pressed her forehead against Embane's. "Mm. You're warm. Very warm. I'm going to get Cross." The pretty alicorn stood and walked out of their bedroom, arriving into the main room. She looked out the wide windows- it had to be early in the morning, the sun hadn't rose yet. Luckily, unlike her husband, she didn't have a weakness to the opposite time of day.
Goldenbell allowed some of her white magic to her horn to serve as a light. She began to climb a tall staircase that led to one of the palace's tall towers. It was one heck of a walk, Cross lived at the very top, preferring his privacy.
After she scaled the huge staircase, she knocked quietly on a simple wooden door.
"Coming." Call Cross from the other side.
The white unicorn emerges from the room. He was clearly tired, his normally neat red mane now in stringy clumps.
"Yes, your majesty?" He asked.
Goldenbell smiled at his respect. "I'm afraid Embane is sick. I checked his temperature, his fever is pretty high."
Cross nodded slightly and walked back into his room, which doubled as an infirmary, and levitated various potions and herbs into a bag that was hung on a desk. He slung the medicine bag over his shoulders and started to walk down the lengthy staircase, not waiting for Goldenbell.
The alicorn followed Cross, and soon they were back in her bedroom.
"Embane?" Cross called, standing at the door.
Embane barely opened his eyes, he had gotten worse. "You can come in, Cross. I don't mind."
"So what is wrong, Embane? What are your symptoms?" Cross said, trotting to him and kneeling beside him.
Embane sighed. "I'm very tired. Goldenbell says I have a fever, apparently. I just wish you ponies would let me sleep. " He murmured the last sentence under his breath.
Cross groaned like an annoyed parent. He pulled a potion out of his bag and sat it in front of Embane's muzzle.
"Just drink this. It will deduce your fever and help you sleep." Cross said simply, walking out of the room. Before he left, he stopped in front of Goldenbell. "Here- take this if he wakes feverish, let him drink some more."
~
Silverfox yawned and pulled herself out of bed. She hated getting up early. According to her, the morning is evil.
But, work had to be done. She stumbled to her desk. Only a few letters sat there. Good, Silverfox thought, is a slow day. She lifted up a lemon-scented one and opened it. She scanned through it, it was well written, but.....the many,many sex scenes kinda took away from it. There wasn't even any plot! The rest of them were average. Silverfox only found 2 or 3 Mary Sues, and one of them was a stallion.
Satisfied she was finished, Silverfox trotted down the hall and to the kitchens, hoping to get some early breakfast.
As the entered the large dining room, she saw Cupcake, the lead chef, siting at the long table.
"Cupcake? You're not cooking breakfast? You are aware Embane, Goldenbell, and the rest of the nobles are coming down to eat in about 45 minutes?"
Cupcake looked confused. "You haven't heard about Embane?" She said.
My breath caught in my throat. "What?! I just got up a couple minutes ago, what happened?" I asked.
"He fell ill early this morning. Cross and Goldenbell have been up with him since then. I doubt they will be eating anytime soon." Cupcake said.
"That's horrible! But...can I have something to eat?" Silverfox asked sheepishly.
Cupcake rolled her eyes and the earth pony trotted into the kitchen. She emerged with an apple. "Here." She said simply, tossing it to the hungry unicorn. She caught it with her magic and began to munch on it.
She quickly remembered the whole deal with Embane and started running to the throne room. The grand room was dark as usual, even though the sun had already rose. Silverfox went to the room behind the throne, Embane and Goldenbell's room. Panting from her run, she knocked on the door.
Goldenbell answered her, opening the door enough so her head could fit through.
"Yes?" She said tiredly. The normally calm alicorn now was visibly weary, her mane hung down messily in her face and her eyes drooped.
Silverfox got her breath back. "I just wanted to see if Embane was ok."
The weary alicorn put on a smile.
"Sure. Toxic's in there too. He might wanna see you, too."
Goldenbell nosed open the door, leading Silverfox in. Toxic was lying beside Embane, who was lying on his side. Cross sat off to his own, his head on his bag of supplies.
Silverfox rushed over to Toxic.
"Toxic? Is Embane alright?!" She asked.
Toxic sighed. "I don't know...This morning, Mother couldn't wake him up...he seems to be trapped in a nightmare."
Silverfox leaned down a looked at Embane. The alicorn's eyes were clenched shut and sweat was plastered against his face. Every once and a while he would groan or make a pitiful sound.
Silverfox frowned and trotted to Cross. The napping doctor opened his good eye.
"Yes?" He said quietly.
Silverfox sat beside him. "So how really is Embane?" She dropped her voice so Toxic and Goldenbell wouldn't hear, "Is he going to die?"
A light smile played on Cross's mouth. "It's gonna take a lot more to kill Embane that that." The unicorn frowned. "But I was reading through my medicine books earlier, and I think I found what is aliment is." Cross leaned in. "This is just a hypothesis, so don't get to excited. I believe Embane isn't ill in the physical sense- it has to do with his memories and dreams. The book said the fever was a side effect. The only cure it listed was for some pony to actually go into his dreams and fight whatever is tormenting him."
Silverfox smiled, shuffling. "So this 'some pony' is me, right?"
Cross shook his head. "No....But if you are willing.."
Silverfox nodded. "Let me talk to Toxic. I think he may want to go."
Silverfox kneeled beside the younger alicorn. She quietly explained what Cross had said, and Toxic looked shocked.
"I will go. For my father, and I can't let you go alone." He said.
The three ponies took their plan to Goldenbell, who nodded understandingly. The white alicorn looked at Cross, her eyes wavering.
"If you believe this will work, then go on."
While Cross went to his room to retrieve the book, Silverfox and Toxic prepared themselves.
"Cross says we will have to fight, so I'm gearing up. You should too." Silverfox said, attaching a knife strap around her.
Toxic simply sat down. "I think I am just gonna nap until he gets here...I mean, I have my magic to fight with right?"
Cross entered Embane's room holding his book with magic. The white unicorn also had small bag attached to his foreleg along with his medicine bag.
Cross glanced at both of us. "Oh yes, I forgot to tell you. I'm coming with you."
Silverfox groaned. "Sorry Cross, but Toxic and I need to be on our guard when we fight. We can't be watching some squishy-medic."
Cross suddenly dropped the book. He tackled Silverfox before she could react, holding her down. He put his horn firmly on her throat, a harsh gleam in his eyes.
"I can hold myself in a fight, missie." Cross growled.
Cross got off Silverfox and picked up the book. While the shocked unicorn caught her breath, the doctor was flipping to the page.
"Goldenbell, can you cast this spell on us?" Cross said, his head turning to the alicorn, who was laying next to her mate.
The three ponies gathered in front of Goldenbell. She held the book in front of her, studying the spell.
"Every pony ready?" She asked the group.
Everyone nodded.
The white alicorn closed her eyes, light colored magic gathering at her horn. Silverfox squirmed as the magic enveloped her, it had only been a couple weeks since the whole "Demonfox" accident so she was still uncomfortable when a spell was used on her.
There was a sudden flash and the three ponies were gone.
~
Silverfox awoke in a grand palace. The floors were a shiny marble,the walls had silk curtains hung on them, and a huge skylight sat on the ceiling. But the most beautiful scene of all was behind the throne: a majestic waterfall flowed and streamed into various little branches that were all around them. The entire place was mystifying.
Beside her, Toxic stirred.
"Wow." He breathed, taking in the sight. "This place is beautiful."
On Silverfox's other side, Cross pulled himself up. "Kinda makes me wish I had two eyes to take it all in." The white unicorn said, half to himself.
The faraway sound of hoofs brought them back. Toxic shoved his friends behind a large marble column. "There's some pony coming!" He whispered.
The three ponies dared not to breath as a skinny, black alicorn foal pranced across the floor.
Toxic suddenly took at breath.
"That's...That's Father!" He yelled.
Silverfox quickly clamped her hoof over his mouth.
The alicorn foal took no notice.
"Interesting." Cross said. "We are in his memories. This is Embane's foalhood."
Mystified, Toxic followed his father. Embane skipped under the skylight. And plopped down on his haunches, like a cat.
"Faaaather!" The foal's higher pitched voice called.
Silverfox snickered. "He sounds so cute."
She suddenly went silent when a shadow was cast over Embane. A large alicorn lowered himself on the floor with absolute grace. When he touched the ground, he leaned his neck in, smiling. "Hello, son." He chuckled slightly.
Silverfox gasped. Embane's father was probably the most beautiful pony she had ever seen. Like Diamondshine, he radiated a sort of "feminine beauty". His entire body seemed to have a ying-yang theme, and one side of his face was covered by his mane, like herself. His mane and tail were separated into black and white, and so were his legs.
"We need to practice your flying now, Embane." Embane's father said, a cheerful tone in his voice.
Embane childishly groaned. "But I don't want to...."
His father put out a hoof and pulled out Embane's small wing. He tried to mock flying, with a goofy smile on his face.
"See? You are already flapping your wings!"
Embane groaned in response.
Suddenly, the picture whooshed and changed. It was in the same room in the same castle, but Embane was much older, possibly a teen.
Silverfox and her two companions walked through a seemingly full assembly. Hundreds on ponies of all species were father in the room, all watching the throne with the waterfall behind it.
Embane was standing in front of his father, his eyes alight with pride. Embane's father looked at the crowd.
"I, Taijitsu, Prince of Mystic Falls, declare that my son has completed his training!" The black and white alicorn exclaimed. The crowd applauded and yelled.
Toxic walked towards his father and Taijitsu. Sitting on his haunches, Toxic watched enchanted while Taijitsu levitated a golden necklace with an obsidian crescent moon onto Embane's neck. Embane shook with excitement, suddenly nuzzling his father's neck. A pretty unicorn (who looked a lot like Goldenbell) giggled and ran to him.
Silverfox cocked her head. "Wait, what? What's happening?"
Cross shrugged. "I have no idea. What interests me is what this Taijitsu was training Embane for...."
Soon they found out. The scene quickly changed again. But, this was not as cheery. It was a horrifying battlefield, soaked with blood. Ponies of all species, most of them with grievous injuries, fought against ponies made of pure shadow with disturbing white eyes.
Toxic staggered back, horrified when an earth pony was tackled by several of the creepy ponies. They ripped and tore at the unfortunate soul's flesh with surprisingly sharp teeth.
With tears in his eyes, Toxic ran into Silverfox. The grey unicorn nuzzled him for comfort, also trying to avert her eyes from the sight of the pony being eaten alive. But she couldn't- it was like a train wreck, you couldn't look away.
The screams of the dark ponies made the small group look behind them. It was Embane! The alicorn looked about as old as Silverfox was used to seeing him, but he was very violent.
The alicorn roared with battle rage and impaled an opponent that attempted to attack. The dark alicorn took to the air, shaking the blood off his horn. Embane dived towards the growing crowd of shadow ponies crushing and stabbing several of them.
Toxic looked disgusted. "That's one way to use your horn..."
Silverfox and Cross, meanwhile, were impressed. "Wow! He just stabbed those freaky ponies!" Silverfox exclaimed, point a hoof at the scene. Cross smiled too, "I know! I didn't think Embane had it in him!"
A scream cut the air. Embane stopped fighting, worry and shock in his eyes. "Goldenbell!" He cried, taking to the air, searching.
"Let's follow him!" Silverfox said, Toxic and Cross quickly agreeing.
They came upon Embane standing over the limp, smaller form of Goldenbell. As the book Silverfox had read earlier said, she was just a unicorn. She cringed when she saw the wide slash along her stomach.
Embane fiercely protected Goldenbell. The enraged alicorn struck out at anything that got too close, shooting it magic or just stabbing it.
Finally, the enemy ponies got the idea not to bother Embane. The ponies spread away, to attack easier targets.
Seeing it was clear, Embane now out his attention to his heavily injured student.
"Goldenbell...speak to me!" He yelled.
The white unicorn's eyes opened a bit, glazed with pain. "Embane...? Am I going to die here?" She whispered, scared.
Toxic looked shocked. He walked over to his future mother, legs shaking. Silverfox followed him, holding out a hoof to stop him. "Don't worry. Spoiler alert, but she lives, as we all know." Toxic smiled a bit.
Embane, meanwhile, didn't know nor could hear them. Tears streaming from his eyes, his greyish colored magic gathered at his horn. "I don't know any healing spells, that was your field of magic, but I can do this!" Embane shouted, slamming his horn on her bloodied form. She was suddenly trapped in a circle of grey, magic swirling around her. His allies and enemies alike stopped and looked at the spectacle, and as soon as it began, it was over. Goldenbell dropped to the ground. She quickly got to her feet, only to be shocked Embane had turned her into an alicorn.
"What?! Embane, what did you do?" She said, confused.
Embane kneeled to the ground. Goldenbell was quick to shield him, attacking everything in the area with magic.
"I saved your life....by making you immortal like me. And this way, our love could last forever." Embane managed to stutter out.
"So that's why Goldenbell is an alicorn..." Toxic thought out loud.
Embane pulled himself up and put on a tough face. "Let's win this war."
The scene changed again. Silverfox was getting used to this.
Embane and a stark white unicorn with a long mane were battling it out. Their horns slammed together, causing sparks and an echo that rolled across the plain field they were fighting in. The two dueling ponies were in a large, white bubble and the war on the outside had ceased. The two sides, with Goldenbell in the front, watched nervously.
Cross sat on his haunches. "I guess we might as well just sit and watch these two fight." Silverfox and Toxic shrugged, sitting beside him.
"Just give up Nightmare! If you surrender, I won't have to kill you!" Embane shouted, blasting the white stallion away, making him hit the side of the bubble.
"And live the rest of my life alone and hated?! NEVER!" Nightmare screamed, his voice cracking.
Silverfox cringed. This was not how she imagined the villain Nightmare. It almost looks like Embane is the bad guy, getting thrown around like that by him, she thought.
"Fine." Embane murmured. "I gave you your last chance." His eyes glowed with power and he lunged at Nightmare. The unicorn surprisingly ran, dodging every blow Embane attempted to make.
Finally Nightmare decided to play offense, striking out with beams of red magic. Embane simply blocked it with his wings.
Nightmare stopped to catch his breath. A very bad idea. Embane took this opening to attack, running at Nightmare. Embane stopped, his horn tip a hair length away from Nightmare's throat. The white stallion's chest heaved, realizing how close to death he was.
"Again, I don't want to kill you. And I'm not. I am going to banish you, teleport you to a place unknown. I have no idea where you will go myself, or in what condition you will be in. Understand, Nightmare?" Embane said in a calm voice that was on edge with anger.
Nightmare nodded his head as much as he could, then swallowing.
Embane's horn glowed with magic and Nightmare let out a scream as he was dragged into a swirling portal.
For the final time, the scene changed. But, this was just an empty white room with seemingly no end in sight.
Embane was in front of them, bound with rope.
"Father!" Toxic yelled, only to be stopped by Cross.
"Toxic, I wouldn't move so rashly. We have reached the end of the memory part. Those were Embane's finest memories. Remember when I said we might have to fight? Well, I think we got to that part...."
Embane struggled in his restraints, trying to say something through the gag.
A dark shape materialized behind Embane. The alicorn turned his head is its direction, a look of sheer dread on his face.
"Prepare yourself!" Silverfox yelled, whipping her knife out. Cross and Toxic immediately got into fighting stances.
The dark shape soared towards them, engulfing Embane. Then, it formed into...something. The creature was horrifyingly confusing. It most certainly wasn't a pony, but more of a pulsing mass of limbs and a tail. A long, serpentine head snaked out with red and green eyes. It opened its mouth and roared, showing off an abnormally amount of teeth.
Silverfox's jaw dropped, her ears going back also. "What...is...THAT?" She yelled at Toxic, who was as confused as she was.
"I think that's the...thing that has been tormenting Embane. Once we kill it, our mission will be complete." Cross informed her.
Toxic flared out his wings. "I'll scan around for a weak spot." Toxic took to the air, searching for a weak spot. Suddenly, the creature's long tail came soaring at him and slammed into him square on the chest. Toxic screamed and crashed into the ground.
"Toxic!" Silverfox yelled, rushing to her friend, Cross right behind her.
Toxic groaned at Silverfox's touch.
His ribs and chest ached. He was pretty sure he broke something.
Cross put his horn on Toxic's chest, performing a healing spell. He felt instantly better, and staggered up.
"Did you see anything Toxic?"
Toxic shrugged. "Maybe we should aim for the tail. It seems to like attacking with it."
"Good enough for me." Silverfox said.
The three ponies all charged at the monster, going for its tail. Cross distracted it by running in circles around it. The creature blindly slashed at the quick doctor unicorn, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, Toxic summoned a blade of magic on his horn and flew above his desired spot. Gritting his teeth, the alicorn zoomed towards the creature's tail, cutting it off. The severed limb fell inches away from a shocked Silverfox, who let out a small scream.
The creature roared in pain and rage, widely slashing and stomping at everything. It managed to cuff Cross on the head, knocking him out and sending him flying. It raised a claw to finish him off.
"Don't worry, Cross! I got you!" Toxic yelled, soaring to the doctor and holding him securely with his hoofs. The creature's claw scrapped against an empty patch of space.
Toxic struggled to fly with the weight of the older doctor. He managed to get back to Silverfox, who was shooting magic beams at the creature. Toxic laid Cross behind her and focused on attacking.
"What...?" Cross said, quickly getting his bearings and standing up.
"Good. You're awake." Silverfox said, firing another beam of magic at the tailless creature.
Toxic turned to face the two. "We need to cut of its head- that will kill anything."
Silverfox laughed sarcastically. "Let me just ask it to sit still. I'm sure it will comply."
Cross's eyes widened. "We could do just that! You know, like a distraction. That will give Toxic enough time to pull a sneak attack."
Silverfox shrugged. "I guess that will work."
A snarl from the creature brought the plan into reality. Silverfox and Cross ran in front of it, teasing and calling names at it, causing the creature to slash madly at them. Toxic flew behind it, trying to be as silent as possible. He summoned the magic blade to his horn, then sliced at the neck, cutting the head off cleanly. Before the head even hit the ground, the monster was dissolving. Eventually, it was reduced to a liquid, dribbling away, revealing an unbound Embane crouched on the ground. The alicorn was a bit wet, but other wise unharmed.
"Father!" Toxic exclaimed, running to his father, sitting beside him. Embane smiled tiredly, nuzzling his son.
Silverfox gazed at Cross. "So we are done?"
Cross nodded. "Yes, I believe we are. Embane should wake up any second now and we will be returned to our bodies in the real world."
Cross was correct. The blank, white world slowly started to fade out, dissipating quickly. Silverfox felt a spinning in her head and near instantly lost consciousness.
"Silverfox, wake up." Toxic's voice echoed in her head. She groaned and opened her eyes. They were still in Embane's room, all sitting in front of him. The Prince himself was awake, too, though he was laying down in the same position.
Goldenbell trotted to the ponies, a look of relief on her face.
"Good, you have awoken. I was so worried....you were gone for hours." The alicorn poorly hid a sob.
Cross got up and looked at the sadden Princess. "No need to worry anymore. Embane is fine. I would like to prescribe that you all- Silverfox and Toxic included- go and get some rest. I will ask Cupcake to send some food to your rooms." He made his way to the door. "Now if you mind me, I'm going to go update my medical journal." The doctor was out the door.
Embane sighed happily. "At least I will get breakfast in bed, right?"
Goldenbell smiled and sat next to her mate. "More like dinner." She teased.
Silverfox, feeling a bit alone, said goodnight to Toxic and went on up to bed. As far as she knew, the alicorn family slept all in the same room that day.
End of Story 2
Story 11: The Fearscape, Part One
Cross packed his things back into his satchel, leaving the house he had been called to. He was one of the only doctors in Eclipse that did house calls, and he could see why. It was rather stressing to constantly tell a worried father that, yes, that is how a foal is supposed to be birthed.
He left the family with a new baby stallion wrapped in a blanket, and he went straight to the castle. Another reason Cross had been so frustrated: the family had called him in before breakfast had started. He hoped there was still food left.
Plopping in his regular seat, Cross levitated a plate of waffles in front of him. He could see breakfast had just finished, because only Ellar reminded, washing dishes.
"Good morning," Cross murmured.
"I'm not sure about that..." Ellar whispered back.
Looking a bit confused, Cross went back to his food, grateful for lukewarm breakfast.
Cross noticed that Ellar kept looking at him strangely, like he was expecting him to explode or something. Cross shrugged. It was Ellar being Ellar, he reckoned.
Gulping down the rest of his waffles, Cross straightened the buckle on his satchel and set off into the forest. He had been running low on a certain herb that was used a lot. It was very rare, so one could only find it in a specific place in the forest. Luckily, Cross had memorized the journey.
Turn right at the dogwood tree, walk for three minutes, then a left at bush with the pink flowers. Only took about fifteen minutes from the castle, so it was an easy walk.
He crouched beside the small, stout bush, sniffing it to make sure it was in the season of bloom. It was; the bundles of bluish leafs had the perfect smell. He nudged open the flap of his satchel, plucking multiple stacks of leafs and sticking them in. He would organize them later.
Cross closed his good eye, feeling the early morning sun on his face. It was relaxing; and he didn't relax much. His eyelid lowered, and Cross made himself comfortable on the soft forest floor. He didn't have to be anywhere, so why not take a little catnap?
~
"Hey, Brother, can you hand me that brand?" Wysteria asked, eyes glancing over to Hatchet.
The earth pony nodded, taking a break from hammering a piece of iron to grab the symboled rod from the furnace. He no longer flinched when the hot air hit on his face, he had grown out of it long ago.
Wysteria accepted the brand, stamping it on her piece of metalwork.
As she finished up her work, Hatchet watched his sister. With her lavender fur and violet mane, they looked nothing alike. Even their species were different. But Hatchet and Wysteria a pair of close siblings. Ever since the death of their parents, the two were forced to grow up and take control of the business to stay alive. They sold metal pieces and weapons, occasionally taking specific requests.
He had slept over at their shop, instead of his new room in the castle, to help his sister fulfill a particularly difficult project. Normally, he would trust her with hard stuff like that, but this job required another set of hooves magic couldn't substitute.
Wysteria's mechanical wings clattered. She turned her head, blinking her, deep, dark red eyes, which were trademark to the family. "Brother, come look at this!" Her violet curls shifted.
Hatchet gazed at his sister's part, smiling in surprise. She had tackled the most difficult part; the making of a metal frame for a pony-shaped creation. "It looks great." He murmured, examining the fine crafting of the cold metal.
"How's the defenses going?" She asked, no longer looking at him, now focused on polishing the frame.
Hatchet had taken up the challenging of arming the project. So far he had made a fine broadsword, and was working on a long dagger.
Hatchet brandished the half finished knife, giving it a few practice swings in front of his sister. She turned around, watching the spectacle. Wysteria clapped, laughing all the while.
"Awesome!" She giggled, affectionately hitting her brother on the shoulder.
Before Hatchet could reply, a shiver went through his body. It wasn't just a chill, it was a sign. A bad sign. His eyes widened, dropping the half finished dagger.
"Brother!" Wysteria exclaimed, her apron wrinkling as she came to Hatchet's side. "Are you ok?"
Hatchet shook his head, struggling away from her. "I gotta go. I'll finish the knife later. I have to see Embane, now." He grabbed his hatchet, strapping it around his waist. The stallion ran out the door of their little shop, leaving the door wide open.
~
A minute or so before, Cross awoke from his nap. He shook the leaves off his pristine white coat, stretching his legs. He felt refreshed, the sleep lost during his early morning call recovered.
He was about to start walking back to the castle when a strange shimmering on the ground caught his eye. Cross cocked his head, slightly confused. The unicorn cautiously took a few steps toward it, recognizing the the shape the light was making.
It was creating a circle, different lines striking through it in a particular pattern, like a pentagram.
Cross knew danger when he saw it. He turned around, running for possibly his life. Sadly,however, he didn't make it that far.
The circle turned black, spiky tendrils snaking out and gripping Cross by the leg. The older stallion screamed, kicking and trying to bend his neck back far enough to shoot it with magic. The tendril was unstoppable. He felt himself being dragged into the earth, legs and lower body disappearing into some kind of portal. With a final cry for help, Cross was gone, vanished into nothingness without a trace.
~
"Hatchet, what exactly are you telling me?" Embane asked, looking questioning down at the usually frantic earth pony.
Hatchet flicked his short mane. "I'm saying something's wrong. I have no idea what the wrongness is, but something bad is going to happen to the land."
Embane looked unfazed. "Something wrong is always happening." He muttered. "Anyway, how do you know?"
"We earth ponies are good for something, Sir." Hatchet said rather testily. "Just as you magic users can sense your disturbances in the Force, we earth ponies know when something bad is going to happen to the land. Call it a sixth sense, in a sort of way. For example, we would know when an earthquake is going happen, and then we tell the rest of the town so they could get ready." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Did my info-dump make any sense?"
"Ah, yes," Embane mused. "You learn something new everyday." He looked a little more concerned. "But you have no idea what it is, the bad thing?"
"EEEEMMMMBAAAAANNNNEEE!" A crazed voice cried, adding to the sound of hoofs clunking against the marble floors of the castle.
Ellar, Embane figured.
The straggly pegasus came into view, wildly galloping down the stairs. As Embane expected nothing different from him, the seer quickly mis-stepped and came tumbling off the railing, somehow.
Rolling his eyes slightly, the Prince caught Ellar with his magic, sitting him on the floor in front of the two stallions.
Ellar was panting, narrow chest heaving up and down. "Em...Em..." He started.
"Take a deep breath, Ellar." Embane murmured quietly.
Not paying attention to the alicorn's stern advice, Ellar threw himself on Embane's leg, wrapping his hoofs around him.
Giving Hatchet an embarrassed glance, Embane raised his foreleg, attempting to shake him off. The seer surprisingly stayed on, starting to cry.
Embane pried him off with magic, tossing him on the floor.
"ELLAR!" Embane boomed. "Calm down and tell what is wrong!"
His normal large, glazed eyes widened, Ellar shrinking in fear.
"Death..." He whispered. "Doom...Fear.. Equestia is going to die." And with that, his eyes rolled in the back of his head and Ellar fell over in a dead faint.
"Apparently he was feeling the same thing." Hatchet said, eyebrow raised slightly in a smug interest.
Embane put Ellar on his back, shaking his head. "We've to find out more of what he saw. This is important. Let's get to Cross first, he could probably rouse him."
~
"Great job, Infinity." Silverfox said, gazing at the steaming hole left in the piles of boxes.
Two weeks ago, Infinity had come to Silverfox, concerned about his magic ability. The "Mirror Pool" incident had startled him, the unicorn realizing he had to learn to fight or he was going to die if another thing like that happened again. After Silverfox assured him that, yes, they were near constantly screwed on weekly basis, Infinity requested magic lessons. Since then, Silverfox had gleefully enjoyed being a vicious general to her new student. She woke him up, with water of course, at the crack of dawn. Then, they traveled down to the basement of the castle, where she had asked Toxic to prepare a training room. She brought her magic books, leaving out the ones with black magic spells, and set up a study table. Silverfox drilled the most basic offensive spells into Infinity's mind, and she was happy to see that the older stallion was a quick learner. She moved on into a unicorn's most trademark spell: levitation. This training sequence was probably the cruelest; to pass the test, Infinity had to write a paper, move water into a cup drop by drop, and pick up Silverfox and brush her mane. All at one time, with levitation spells. Infinity passed out shortly afterwords, Toxic having to help the mare carrying him back to his room.
"Am I getting better?" Infinity asked, panting slightly. This lesson was shooting magic beams.
Silverfox nodded, shuffling in her chair. She was busy writing a new novel, so far the plot was about an angsty demon slayer trying to avenge her family's deaths.
"You have improved a lot, Infinity." Silverfox murmured, beginning to write again. "You have one final test."
"Really? What is it?" Infinity urged.
"Fight me. Right now. The battleground is this room." Silverfox put her quill down, stalking toward Infinity.
"Silverfox, are you sure you are ready for that?" Toxic said worriedly. "A fight could be a bit too strenuous. Maybe I could fight him."
Ever since Toxic learned he had hurt Silverfox under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet, he had been crushed with guilt and concern. While she was still infirmary-bound, Toxic spent nearly all day by her side. He shakily asked Cross questions about her condition all day, the unicorn doctor getting a bit frustrated with him. Even when she returned to her room, Toxic slept with her every night.
Silverfox scoffed, flipping her bangs. "Toxic, I'm a big mare. I can take care of myself."
The alicorn gave her an anxious glance. "Are you sure."
"Yes." She sighed.
Silverfox flicked her tail in a challenge, flattening her ears against her head. Infinity stared forward, waiting for Silverfox to make the first move.
"You're so kind." She hissed, throwing up her head and casting a spell. A black beam of magic came soaring toward Infinity, the teacher counter attacking with his own purplish-blue magic. The energy met, dying out with a brief explosion. Without warning, Silverfox lit her horn with magic, charging at him. Startled, Infinity rose a shield around him. Silverfox stopped before she collided with it, hooves skidding.
"You know you can move, right? Fights are a lot more fun when there is a lot of psychical activity." Silverfox murmured.
Infinity responded with running to the edge of the training room, challenge flickering in his eyes.
Silverfox closed her eyes, preparing a large spell. Runes crackled in the air, a huge fireball forming in the air. Infinity gasped, and with much more difficulty, performed a spell. Blue runes came along the ground in front of him, a wall of sheer water rising up.
"Good job!" Silverfox cried, throwing her head, releasing the massive fireball. Fire met water with a sizzling hiss, steam filling the room.
The steam cleared, and Infinity stood, unharmed, but shield gone.
"A highly skilled unicorn would have been able to keep the water spell even after I magically nuked it. But you managed to completely canceled out the fire spell I casted, so that's pretty good." Silverfox observed. "I-" Before she could finished the rest of her sentence, Infinity reared back, three beams of magic flying at Silverfox. The unicorn grinned, making a magic blade on her horn. With a fluid motion, she sliced the beams into pieces, the energy dying out before it hit her.
"Hey! That's not fair." Infinity muttered, glasses falling onto his snout.
"All is fair in love and war." Silverfox said in a sing-song fashion, flicking her tail.
"You are enjoying this too much."
"I know."
Infinity mimicked Silverfox's spell, a crackling aura of magic covering the unicorn's horn. He lowered his head, snorting. Silverfox ran at the teacher, their magic-encrusted horns locking. They struggled for a few seconds, both of the physically weak unicorns trying to trump each other. Silverfox suddenly reared back on her forelegs, slamming her body down on Infinity. Infinity smirked and countered, blade vanishing and shooting a magic beam into her side, sending her sliding across the floor.
Toxic cried out in shock, jumping up from his sitting position.
Infinity too looked a bit worried when his temporary teacher didn't stir. Maybe I was too rough on her, he thought.
"I'm fine." Silverfox grunted, pulling herself on her hooves. The grey unicorn gave herself a good shake, dust flying off her fur. She blew some of her mane out of her mouth, approaching Infinity with a subtle smile.
"Congratulations, teacher. You passed."
Infinity's green eyes lit up. "Really?!"
"Yup. You managed to up me a couple times. I pass you for magical combat."
Interrupting Infinity's rather awesome moment, Embane ran into the room, Hatchet following and Ellar slung over his back.
"Father, what happened?" Toxic exclaimed.
"That's what we are trying to figure out. Has anyone seen Cross? We need him to treat Ellar." Embane muttered.
Silverfox rested on the floor, beside Toxic. "Haven't seen him all day. He wasn't even at breakfast."
Infinity straightened his tie and adjusted his glasses. "Ah, sir, I saw him leaving the castle a couple hours ago. Haven't seen him since, though."
Embane groaned. "Alright. I need to find Radar. He's good at finding ponies, right?"
Toxic shuffled his wings. "Radar is doing drills with the other Wingblasts on the palace yard. We spoke at breakfast."
"Thanks, son." He turned to leave, Hatchet nodding at the three ponies. The alicorn made a little "oh!" sound, like he had forgotten something. "What are you three doing in the basement?!" He snapped.
Silverfox shrugged, smirking broadly. "Well, Infinity needed lessons, and you weren't obviously using this space. I feel as I can do as I please with useless rooms."
Embane moaned, adjusting Ellar's position on his back. "Gather your things and follow me. I'll be going through the main room to find Radar. You three can play there."
"In all due respect, sir, I am not a foal. I was socializing with these young ponies because I was receiving valuable training to be a better noble." Infinity murmured, bowing.
"Suck up." Hatchet muttered under his breath.
"Infinity," Embane muttered. "When you are hundreds of years old, everyone is a foal to you."
The Prince turned and walked away, Hatchet and Toxic following. The two remaining ponies trotted with them, behind.
Walking up a flight of stairs, Infinity turned to look at Silverfox.
"About that fight earlier," he murmured. "We're you going easy on me?"
Silverfox laughed darkly. "Of course I was."
"What?!"
She flicked her bangs. "In a way. If this was a real fight, and I felt I was in real danger, I would have stuck a knife between your shoulder blades and called it done."
Infinity stared, confused, glasses shining slightly.
"Infinity, this is your final lesson in combat: be a pragmatist. Fight dirty. There is no honorable fighting in real life. If its you or the enemy, make it the enemy." Silverfox hissed, looking serious.
"I will keep that in mind."
~
Cross wretched open his good eye, trying to figure out where he was.
His surroundings were grim; Cross was in some sort of stone room, a small window far behind him. Outside, the sky was a dark red, some kind of smoke floated about.
Cross attempted to get up, only to fall right back down, coughing. Every breath he took made him feel worse, stomach twisting and lungs aching. He dry heaved, regretting the fact that ponies lacked the ability to vomit. Nausea traveling through his body, Cross rolled on his side, moaning loudly. Laying his cheek against the hard, stone floor, the unicorn gazed through a half-closed eye.
The room was small, a bit claustrophobic, with a cold floor covered in dust and grime. Far in front of him, a opening in the wall led to a long flight of stairs made of dark stone.
I'm obviously not in Eclipse, Cross thought wistfully, stretching out. He felt himself getting chills, which was a very bad sign, Cross didn't need to be down with a fever in an unfamiliar place. His mouth felt a bit dry, so he assumed he was a bit dehydrated as well.
A thought coming to his mind, Cross slowly brought his head over, to keep the nausea down, and checked his shoulder. To his pleasant luck, his medicine satchel was still slung across his body. He desperately wanted to levitate some herbs to chew, but he honestly didn't feel up to it. His energy was sapping startling fast, and using magic seemed akin to running a marathon without breaks. With a pitiful whine, Cross settled with his head laying on his hooves. He closed his good eye, hoping some sleep would sooth his nausea.
A sliding sound rudely awoke Cross from a slumber that hadn't yet came.
He jerked awake, glaring around the room.
Cross's breath caught in his throat as a shadow traveled up the stairs. A large snake head emerged from the darkness, followed by another one.
Cross scrambled back, amiss. He wasn't exactly scared of snakes per-say, just unnerved by them. Especially of one (or maybe two) of that magnitude.
The creature fully pulled itself through the opening, and Cross tried his best to shrink in size.
The snake-like creature was huge, nearly filling the room he was in. Horrifyingly, it had eight heads, all moving and slithering about independently, forked tongues flicking out. Other than this, its body was all snake, scales an off brownish grey.
The biggest of the heads, and with a longer neck, came near Cross, who had pushed himself against the wall.
"Yes..." A clearly female voice hissed from the jaws of the snake's head, drawing out the 's' sound. "My senses were correct; a little pony has come upon our trap. Just one, but one will do. I need to make sure I haven't gotten rusty over the years." Her tail slithered out, petting Cross's dirt-smeared face. The unicorn regained his composure, trying his best to continue to stay calm.
"So straight faced...." She whispered, one of the lesser heads prying its jaws around the straps of Cross's eyepatch. "Let's see we can't have you screaming." As if on cue, one of her heads ripped his eyepatch off, exposing a scarred, empty eye socket. She discarded the leather out the window, leaning down onto the shaking stallion. Her long tail slithered behind him, coiling around his body, holding him down and still. The creature's face was practically on Cross's, and he could smell her breath. It stank of death; death and rotten meat.
"Who are you?" He said sternly.
"My name is Orochi, dear." She purred, and he felt a shudder pass through her chilly coils. "But I would like to know more about you..." She placed her nose between Cross's eyes, and the stallion was dragged into a vision.
~
"Sorry, Embane. Can't find him." Radar murmured, trotting to the still form of Ellar on the ground. The Prince had gotten tired of carrying him, opting to let him lay on the soft grass of the castle courtyard.
Radar settled beside him, nudging the seer. "Pssh, Ellar, wake up." He whispered.
To Toxic's, Silverfox's, Infinity's, Hatchet's, and Embane's surprise, Ellar's eyes fluttered open and he groaned.
"Ra...dar..." He said, blind eyes looking fearful.
Embane pulled forward to question him, but Radar waved him off with a wing. The pegasus wrapped his tan wings around Ellar, looking worriedly at him.
"Ellar, I want you to explain exactly what you saw in your vision, ok?" Radar murmured, being unusually gentle.
Tears filled Ellar's eyes, slipping down his face and wetting his off-white fur. "We're all gonna die! T-The Fearscape is merging with our world!" He sobbed, crying into Radar's chest.
"What?!" Embane screamed, drawing back in shock. He paced back and forth, "No,no,no,no,no! This can't be happening. Ellar, are you sure this is what you saw?!"
"Yes!" Ellar cried hysterically, going into a more furious round of tears on Radar's fur.
Radar pulled Ellar up, the seer leaning on him unsteadily.
"What does this mean, Father?" Toxic asked wearily, sitting at Embane's hooves.
Embane sighed heavily. "If we don't stop this, the world is doomed."
~
Cross found himself in a deep, dark forest, following a younger version of himself. He assumed he was some sort of ghost observer, as he didn't seem to have a psychical body at the time. With curiosity, he closely examined his other self trek through the vines and thick grass.
Quickly, everything came to him.
This was the event that took his eye out.
"Hey, Cross!" A stallion dressed in a dark body suit asked, running up to him. He was soon followed by other similarly dressed ponies, both mares and stallions. "Have you seen any sign of the village yet?"
Before being recruited as a noble, Cross had worked in a foreign army bent on returning peace to the far away forest of Argaren. Ponies there lived in tribes, constantly fighting and hunting each other for sport.
Fresh out of medical school, Cross volunteered to help heal the foals and innocents injured in the fighting, on both sides. It would be a standard, easy mission, except that the Argarians held no respect in the Geneva Convention, so the medic was fair game. In return, this gave Cross the freedom to cut down anyone who stood in his way of the injured.
The younger Cross shook his head, bouncing with a youthful air.
"Haven't yet, but we should be getting close." He flicked a bug off his back with his tail. "But I'm afraid the bugs are gonna get me before I even get to fight, these mosquitos are horrible."
"Don't be so eager to fight, medic." The stallion, named Dusk, murmured, falling into stride beside him. "Just because you can doesn't mean you should. It's hard out there."
The younger stallion stared with arrogant green eyes. "Hard? Psh, it couldn't be that hard. You just knife the enemy in the right place, and boom, you win!"
Dusk sighed, moving around his wings. He turned his head to a mare behind him, "He's gonna take his first fight badly. You can give him some quick therapy afterwards, right, Velvet?" The purplish mare nodded silently.
A rustle in the canopy above them brought the soldiers to alert. Dusk and Velvet drew heavy knifes, locking the hilt in their jaws. Others pulled out full length swords, and one mare had a flail held by magic.
Dusk pushed himself in front of Cross, shoving him onto the ground. Cross gritted his teeth, frustrated.
A shadow leapt out of the tree, landing in the broad branches of another. Soon, they were surrounded by rustles and movement, leaves falling about.
The twang of a bow caught Cross's hearing. Before he could even duck, an arrow struck his neck. Dusk turned on his heels, catching the unicorn. Cross felt something cold traveling through his veins, making him feel sleepy. He tried to mutter something, but his vocal cords failed him. The stallion passed out.
Cross wearily opened his eyes, a bit confused when he noticed his vision seemed a bit odd. He still felt lethargic, he assumed whatever had knocked him out hadn't worn off yet.
He was in some kind of hut, made of thin wood, laying on straw. In his blurred sight, Cross spotted a roundish object some feet before him. Cross doubted its importance and dwelled on the more erring question: Where was he?
Maybe some kind of village, Cross thought, rolling over. His face felt wet, like someone had poured thick, wet water on him.
A mare entered his little hut. He recognize her as Velvet, a unicorn that had served on his team. She was levitating a bowl of liquid and looked quite shocked.
"Oh, Cross." She whispered. "I'm so sorry.... I'm so sorry..."
Still feeling dreary, Cross, confused, asked, "Huh? What happened?"
Velvet sat the bowl before him, pressing his head forward, motioning him to drink. Cross gulped it down heartily. He couldn't remember when he had last drunk.
Immediately, the odd liquid cleared his vision and his head.
Horrified, Cross realized why Velvet had been so distraught.
The roundish object before him was his own heavily bloody eyeball.
"No...no.." He rasped. Cross brought his tongue on the side of his face, confirming his fears. The bitter taste of blood made him gag. "How..?"
Velvet sat down, pinkish eyes clouded with grief. "After you blacked out, the natives attack us. A couple went for you." She bit her lip. "It was too much. We lost. We were lucky that some villagers saw our plight and decided to help. You would have died without it." Shaking her head, Velvet started to cry. "The healer couldn't save your eye. It was too scarred. He said you wouldn't have been able to see out of it, so he just removed it."
Cross nodded dumbly, too traumatized to fully comprehend what had truly just happened.
"Dusk... What happened to Dusk and the others?" Cross looked around the sniffing unicorn. "Are they in the village?"
A new stream of tears flowed down Velvet's lavender cheeks. "They're gone! I-I went to save you, and then Dusk was killed...they cut off his head. They all died so quickly...it was horrible... The other ponies helped me carry you back. They carried away the bodies, too. But I couldn't look. I couldn't pay my respects."
Cross's body slumped against the straw. His remaining eye was vacant, mind overloading from everything that had just happened.
Velvet placed a hoof on his quivering shoulder. "You're going home, Cross. You need some proper medical attention. I'm sorry, but you are in no condition to continue." She nuzzled him. "Someone should come and get you in the morning. Sleep. You need rest."
~
"What is the 'Fearscape'?" Radar asked, curiously fluttering over Embane's shoulder.
Embane turned to address the gathered ponies, a large book levitated in front of him.
"The Fearscape," He started. "Is a complete other dimension. It is an evil place, filled with vile monsters too horrible for Tartarus. A long, long time ago, it merged was merged with our world. Demons roamed the land, slaughtering pony and griffin alike. A Princess rose from the midst, followed by a team of loyal ponies. Assisted by a mythical device, they vanquished the land, completely separating our worlds at the seams. Due to the terror it had wrecked on us, it was dubbed the Fearscape." Embane sighed. "That's about all I know."
"Yeah, buts where's Cross? It's not like him to be missing like that." Radar inquired.
"I'm afraid he might be trapped in it." Embane groaned.
"What?!" Silverfox, Toxic, Infinity, Radar, and Hatchet exclaimed.
"Before the Fearscape fully merges with us, small portals will open up. I believe it's safe to assume he was sucked into it."
"What do we need to do? Go in there and drag his butt out?" Silverfox said bitterly.
Embane smirked. "Why thank you, Silverfox. That's exactly what I need you to do."
"Whaaah?" Infinity cried, looking flustered. He shook his head. "No, no, no! After hearing that description, I'll never go in there!" His glasses fell down his snout. "This isn't what I signed up for! I wanted a job that payed more than a pathetic teacher's salary!"
Hatchet glared. "That's a greedy reason, Infinity."
"A stallion needs to make a living." He huffed.
Embane sighed. "Sorry, Infinity. This is exactly what you signed up for. As a noble, it is your job to protect the kingdom."
Infinity seemed to shrink.
"Hey, I'm not too sure about this either." Silverfox hissed. "I have done a lot of stupid things in my life, but this is suicidal."
Toxic looked shocked. "Silverfox! This is to rescue a friend! Cross saved your life a few weeks ago!"
Silverfox opened her mouth to bark a argument, but was interrupted by Embane.
"Ah, but Silverfox, we actually do need you for this mission." Embane said sternly. Silverfox couldn't help but notice that the tips of the Prince's wings were shaking.
"Prince.." Hatchet said questioningly. "Are you scared?"
"Of course I am scared!" Embane suddenly snapped. "Last time this happened nearly everything was wiped out! I'm freaking out!" The alicorn allowed his legs to visibly quiver.
Silverfox's eyes widened, realizing the sheer horribleness of the situation. Sitting beside Toxic, she bowed her head. "I-I am in, Embane."
"Of course I'm in," Radar said cockily. "This should be a snap. Get in, kill monsters, get Cross, vanquish an eldritch location, go home and be heroes. Lets do this."
"He's kidding." Infinity said, flabbergasted. "He had to be kidding."
Hatchet glared at the unicorn. "Not everyone is a coward, teacher. Embane, count me in too."
Toxic looked courageous. "Naturally I am joining this too! Cross needs to be saved!" He pulsed his hoof in the air.
"No." Embane said bluntly. "You're not."
"What?! Why not?"
"You are my son, Toxic. I could never allow you to go on such a dangerous mission." He glanced sideways. "Goldenbell would have my head."
"Oh, so we are expendable?" Silverfox hissed.
Embane gazed at her, raising his eyebrow. "You are expendable. You are not a noble. You're just Toxic's friend."
Toxic placed a hoof around Silverfox's shoulders. "Please, I can't let her go alone! I'll make myself sick with worry!" He gaged as a pathetic and biologically inaccurate example.
Embane looked crushed. "If...If you must. Just don't take risks. Be careful."
"Oh, can Diamondshine and Catfight come along too?" Toxic exclaimed.
"Yes. We need as many ponies as possible out there. The fighting is going to be hard, can they handle that?"
"Oh yes." Silverfox answered, the memory of her friends breaking necks and laser beaming foes coming to mind.
"Make that seven." Infinity moaned.
"Oh! Oh!" Ellar cried, jumping up. "I wanna go! I wanna go!"
"Ellar, I'm afraid you can't. You are..not as equipped for combat as the others." Embane said, swallowing. "I don't want you to get seriously hurt. Cross will be in no condition to heal you."
Ellar whimpered, shuffling his wings.
Embane tried his best to smile at the seer. "You can stay here, with me and Goldenbell, and fight whatever monsters stray into our world."
The pegasus brightened up a bit.
"Why won't you be going?" Hatchet asked.
"It is my duty as a leader to protect the subjects of Equestria directly. Demons are going to be flowing from portals all over soon. Fighters must be on hand to protect Eclipse." The Prince murmured. He shook his head. "Everyone, gather your supplies and meet me in the basement. Toxic and Silverfox, go get your friends and explain what's happening to them." He said simply, trotting off, carrying the book with him.
~
Some time later, in the basement, the nine ponies, plus Embane met together.
The Prince raised his horn, performing a spell. Ten amulets formed from the air, with gold chains with green stones.
"What do we need necklaces for?" Catfight asked, cocking her head.
Diamondshine stuck a hoof in her mouth. "Shh, that's a fabulous stone. I want it."
Embane waved one of the necklaces in the air.
"In the Fearscape, the air itself is toxic. Exposure causes a pony to become very ill. You need to wear these to be in any condition to fight and move around. I made one for Cross, too, but he should already be feeling the effects. The jade should begin to heal him."
One by one, Embane placed the jade amulets around each ponies's necks, giving the extra one to Radar.
"Radar, Hatchet," the two stallions snapped to attention at the Prince's call. "Since you are the oldest, you are in charge of the mission." He glanced at Silverfox. "Silverfox, step forward."
The grey unicorn looked confused, approaching Embane. The alicorn placed a spell book before her, pointing his hoof at a collection of runes and ancient writings. "Since you are an expert at arcane magic like this, I need you to summon the portal to the Fearscape."
Silverfox read the page, eyes scanning the book. With every word, she grew more and more horrified.
"I can't do this spell."
"What?!" Embane groaned, flaring his wings.
"Embane, I love dark magic and the like, but I have to draw a line. This is hundreds of miles away from the line."
Toxic frowned, "Silverfox, please. You have to do this for us."
Silverfox looked at the eager faces of her colleagues, minus Infinity, and sighed. "Fine. Step back."
Hatchet raised a hoof, throwing a bag forward. "Hold on. I brought some weapons for us."
"You can pass those out later!" Embane snapped, stomping his horn. "We have to hurry! Cross could die, the merging could go fasting than planned!"
Gritting her teeth, Silverfox summoned magic to her horn. Eyes glowing, she repeated the enchant, speaking a language foreign to everyone unknowing to black magic. A circle formed around her, runes imprinting under her. Blackness spread through the circle, transforming it into the portal. Content, Silverfox leapt off the portal, panting.
"It's ready." She whispered, eyes flickering back to normal.
"Good luck, ponies. I am trusting you!" Embane screamed as the nine ponies jumped into the portal.