Ancient evils

Chapter 5:  Spirits

Rainbow looked down at her old friend once more. She did not seem a villain, just a tragic story.

"I'm sorry she put you through that Dash, but it had to be done." said Applejack

"I...I know. I didn't want to hurt her, but there was no other choice."

Applejack helps Dash to her feet.

"Now come on, everypony else is setting up near the water for the night, and you look like you could use some sleep."

Dash nods, too tired to talk. On her way out she shuts the portcullis once more so Gilda could not escape.

"I'll figure what to do with her later. She could use some time locked up, anyway." said Dash.

Dash walked across the narrow ledge on the side of the water, too tired to fly back. She was soaked from head to hoof, and freezing down in the damp cave. Up ahead everypony else  had reached to bottom of the stairway. They were shocked to see Dash in the state she was, and ran  to her.

"Rainbow, what happened?" asked a concerned Twilight.

"Leave her alone, she's been through a lot today." said Applejack

"I'm okay, Applejack," said Rainbow. "It was Gilda," she said, pointing to a cut on her right side.

"Dearie, let me see what I can do." said Rarity.

She always carried a needle and thread with her, and used it to stitch up the wound. Applejack grabbed Rainbow a towel and Rainbow dried herself off.

"Why did Gilda attack ya?" said Applejack "I figured she had just left that day she flew off somewhere."

"She joined up with those... cultists."

At this everypony was taken aback.

"She doesn't seem to understand that she got her self in this position, but I guess she won't ever learn."

"She does not understand why she is hated, and let herself be manipulated. said Zecora.

Pinkie was done starting a fire, (and she only destroyed a few things!) and the ponies set went to sleep, except Zecora, who had first watch. The night was quiet, and guard was boring, Twilight later took over for Zecora. Day had come, and with it, further journeying into the caves. The others woke up and Rainbow, was doing fairly well after her injury, and did not seem hampered by it in any way. The ponies continued down a tunnel to the right and were met by familiar faces.

"Once more we meet." spoke Silver Tongue. "This time I won't be taken down so easily."

He let out a sharp whistle, and more ponies came into the room. First came Silver's crony Brute Force and the mysterious cloaked mare, followed by several others dressed in the same black and purple robes. There was a male pegasus, and a female earth pony.

"Unless any of you wish to surrender now, I'm afraid you don't stand a chance." said Silver Tongue. He waited a few seconds. "I suppose not."

Brute force spoke up next. "Good, the more they fight the more fun they will be to kill."

He flashed an evil grin, matched only by the shine of his blade, which he flicked out of its holster on his right front hoof. He then pointed the blade towards Fluttershy.

"I'll be sure to pay you back for what you did earlier."

He charged at her, and Fluttershy once more prepared a kick. He quickly ducked beneath it and slammed her down.

"I'm on to your tricks, you're gonna have to do better than that."

Rainbow flew towards him at top speed, but her wings were still injured, no matter how much she tried to hide that from everypony to seem strong. She decided to push through the pain, no matter how much she wanted to stop. She had to, she's Rainbow Dash, she can't give up!

"Trying to play the hero again?" said Silver. He flicked his blade, but couldn't connect in time to stop Rainbow from taking both him and herself down in a hard crash. Rainbow gave out, having fought through the pain as much as she could, and had collapsed onto Silver like a cannonball. The unicorn mare in the back gave silent gestures, and the pegasus shot through the air like a bullet. His blade dug deep into Rarity, who was knocked back, but not down. Next, the earth pony charged in and delivered a kick to the side of Applejack's head, yet she seemed almost unfazed. Her eyes shone with anger, and she shook from her fury. She returned the kick with a buck of her own, and a crack was heard throughout the entire cave. A look of fear shot over the face of Silver, Brute, and the cultist who's jaw was now shattered. She shook and trembled, and slowly fell to the ground. The other two cultists seemed unfazed, and continued like nothing had even happened. The unicorn was done preparing a powerful spell the likes of which even Twilight had not even heard. A dark blue wave shot from her horn and enveloped the cultist now on the ground, bleeding, but not dead. The wave began to suck the energy out of her, until she crumbled away. The unicorn the reshaped the energy into a strange, ethereal shape, and let it loose. This shade began to slowly creep towards Twilight and the others.It looked similar to a pony, but was misshapen and eerie. Its eyes were sunken in  and emitted a bright white light, while its body was pure energy in a dark shade of blue. It had a lifeless look about it, and no free will to do anything but its master's command, yet it was alive, if only barely. She had a look of hopelessness and despair on her face, almost as if she could feel her body was lost. Brute Force was rather unnerved, but considering it seemed under control, decided he had more important things to do, like exact his revenge. He charged at Fluttershy, but was interrupted by Pinkie, who kicked him in the side and knocked him off balance. She and Twilight worked together to then levitate him in the air, and toss him towards the pegasus, and although he managed to dodge the large stallion headed towards him, Force was not so lucky, and slammed into a cave wall, knocked down and heavily wounded. The unicorn once more shot a wave, and created yet another shade, this one looking eviler than the last. He had a permanent evil grin on his face. and started to slowly creep forward, his blade still attached to his hoof, held in a menacing pose. Blood dripped down his face, and his eyes shown a dark red instead of the white of the last spirit. Silver was terrified, and, having seen his closest friend turned into a horrific monster, enraged. He rushed at the unicorn, but was intercepted by the pegasus, and having decided Silver was of no further use, the pegasus shoved his blade into the Silver's throat. He then removed his blade, and was content to watch Silver die right here.

"I want to watch you bleed." he said. "Only thing someone as pathetic as you is good for anyway."

Silver tried to scream, but found himself unable to do anything but watch in fear as his life slipped away.

"What's the matter? Afraid of your blood getting all over your fancy clothes?"

The unicorn carved a strange symbol into Silver's belly, then threw him to the ground. Even Zecora was shocked at this display of barbaric and vulgar violence. Zecora, deciding she had to act now, lest end up like one of these foul beasts, ran at the unicorn, who was preparing to make silver into another spirit. Applejack wanted to get Rainbow out of there, as she was knocked unconscious in the collision with Silver. She grabbed Rainbow the best she could and dragged her away. Fluttershy was horrified at these spirits, was hesitant to do much else but run from them, but once they closed in she saw she had no other choice but to fight them off, and slashed at the spirit of the young mare, only to find her blade passed right through. Twilight charged in to help Zecora fight the Unicorn. Rarity and Pinkie had their hands full with the pegasus. He weaved in and out between the two of them,delivering countless little cuts all across them. Pinkie thought this was no fun at all, and got her party cannon ready for action, and fired it right at him, This did little more than knock him back, although it did put a smile on Pinkie's face. Rarity had a plan. She used her magic to grab him and slow him down enough to where Pinkie could bring him down. He seemed to realize he was in a bad spot, and stopped circling, instead pulling deeper down the cave, signaling the unicorn along the way.  The unicorn had finished her spell,and released another wave, which enraptured and decomposed Silver, and created another spirit. This spirit had its eyes wide open, with a bright silver light shining from them. He had a look of greed on his face, but not for simply material wealth. He wanted control. He ripped into Zecora, who was already close by.

"Evils from a era I wish to never see, you all shall be destroyed by me!" said Zecora. She delivered a swift kick to the Unicorn, and pulled a potion from her bag and smashed it on the ground. The spirits seemed to flee but not very far away. The unicorn then teleported away, being outnumbered and alone.