Author's Note

Welcome back to another chapter, we shall bear witness to a fight; a fight that will be legendary. Enjoy.

“Life's greatest challenge comes from within.”

-J.R. Rim.

Attack From Within

Jamir's Pov.

Something didn't sit right with me. Not with how the night ended. Rin and Blank didn't want to give up their idea of confronting Starlight about what this little operation of her really sat behind. I agreed with them, but I had to let them know that there was certainly a different way to handle the problem with the exclusion of brute force. I didn't want her to think that I was at all against her from the sound of my tone.

Being in Detroit, maybe I would side with her more is that we both knew mostly the ins and out of how things worked there and what people we would talk to if anything was off. Equestria had a whole different set of rules, and Daring and the girls were the best things we had to experts on this world. Then came the very small possibility that we could be wrong and maybe these ponies really did come of their own will and wanted their Cutie Marks changed and just wanted to be part of something bigger than any one of them.

At any rate, we had to take care of the true business here, which would be securing a way back to Detroit so we can stop my sister from taking over the place we call home and we get labeled public enemy number one.

''How'd it get so bad, Red?'' I asked under my breath, trying to get up, only to fall over at the last second. Damn, she got me good. ''I knew being in Japan fucked you up, but I didn't think it'd make you do something like this,'' I said as I flashed back to her telling me about her 'exploits' in Japan that she always asked me to forget about, but I couldn't.

It's thanks to-

''-Jamir, we have to get the lead out!'' Daring cut me off as she slowly came to and hopped out of bed, realizing what happened prior. The sun was rising, and the time we were put to sleep was beyond me as I felt a different atmosphere, even with being inside of a small house. We walked to the window and looked out of it, hoping that whatever the two of them did, it wouldn't be as bad as either of us thought. ''Something's wrong. . .''

I began to open the door, looking left and right to see all of the other houses, just the same as when we came into town, but every door was open and eyes stared back at us with a wave of almost soulless anger.

Yet they didn't move.

''What the hell?'' I asked, Daring staring with me as the quiet overtook every sound for a few moments. Those eyes, unblinking as the next thing that I knew, the sound of rumbling filled our ears and an almost inhumane pair of screams sounded with two shapes flew in the air towards us, the air whistling as they crashed down, depressing the ground in front of us and sending rocks and dirt our way as we shielded ourselves as best as we could.

''AHAHAHAHAHAHA!'' a voice cut through the air, sending our attention to the building in the center as we spied Starlight on top of the building, holding her staff and one of her spellbooks. ''How easily those two fell to my magic! And you will be next!~''

We looked to our new arrivals to be-

''Rin?/Blank?'' I asked at the same time as Daring, seeing our friends stand up our from the crater they made and raise their heads to us, only to see the changes, and none of them good. ''What did you do to our friends?'' Daring pointed a hoof to Starlight, who merely teleported over to us by a few feet.

''Nothing too bad, they just attempted to intervene into my attrition of the town, is all. So I resolved the issue by making them citizens; now they serve the collective.'' Starlight said with a tongue full of venom. ''You know, if you had just left me to my own devices, you'd be home and not stuck in this world forever.''

Does that mean that she was able to find a way back? We could go home?

''That's all well and good, but you can't convert our friends into your slave labor crap!'' Daring failed to relent with her words and seeing the state of our friends almost prompted me to do the same, if not for trying to find a different way to approach her treachery. How was she able to convert our friends into. . .whatever they were so easy, and does she honestly think that she was going to get away with?

I attempted to move towards the unicorn, only to be blocked by Rin thrusting an arm out and lightly shoving me back with that same murderous glare in her eyes as I looked back at my friend. ''Rin, snap out of it! You know better!''

That only served to make her angrier as she growled and took out Slayer, pointing it at me, the glint of the blade shining in the sun's light. Rin's eyes narrowed as she spoke but in a way different tone; deeper and more mature sounding. ''I am not who you think I am, boy. My name. . .is Nir!''

What the fuck?

''What the hell do you hope to accomplish from this?'' I asked, the blade awfully close but never moving past 2 inches from touching the neck. ''You know we'll-''

''-You will do nothing once you submit to my will; just as easily as I have ensnared your friends, I will do the same to you, only after they have pushed forth my message of punishment. Nir, if you would take care of your enemy, as well as you too, Vague.'' Starlight took a seat and motioned for the two of them to do whatever it was that they were going to do.

Nir? Vague? What the hell?

''Hah!'' Rin leaped forward, sweeping Slayer in an arc under her left armpit, the sword missing me by a hair's width as I stumbled back. That failed to stop her as she took the sword in two hands and thrusted forward, the blade impaling itself into the wood of the house before I rolled over and grit my teeth. Crap. Fighting Rin, even as a light sparring would be difficult in itself, and with her whole mind supposed changed, her restraint may be less than before. ''Stay still, vermin!'' Rin slashed downward as I dodged the strike, somehow reading my movements before I knew what I wanted to do, delivering a brutal kick that sent me into the dirt.

''Blank, it's me! You don't attack your boss!'' Daring was rushed by her friend, pushing her neck up against the wall. A sickly grin was on her face as she flashed her tongue and attempted to bite Daring's neck, a forehoof cutting her from doing until the pair ended up on the ground, tussling and trying to restrain the other as Rin charged forward, grabbing me by the neck and launching me into the door of the house next to us, the wood splintering easily and whacking my back with stinging pain.

''Damn. . .'' I cursed, groaning, and attempting to get up as I coughed from inhaling the first and wood dust. ''This'd be a good time for the girls and Snow, if only they weren't at the ship-COUGH! COUGH!''

My vision danced all over the place, the brunt of getting thrown so quickly not registering with my brain right away. Slowly getting up and fighting the throbbing, I began to think of how exactly I was going to handle this situation. And wipe the smug look off of her face.

''Jamir?'' a voice called out to me on my right. Turning my head over and observing, it was Grass and Echo. ''What's going on out there?''

Oh, glad they weren't at least converted into this bullshit.

''Um. . .let's just say that Rin and Blank-WHOA!'' I was grabbed by my leg and dragged outside as Rin spun me and threw me out to the entrance of town, the feeling of hitting the ground feeling like my arms were broken as I fought to recover in a roll at the last second, my forehead scraping the ground as I breathed out painfully. Trying to talk it out would do no good, so there was only one thing to do; fight.

Limping for a moment before running back to Rin, I focused on her standing there looking smug as I stopped and began to strafe, keeping my arms up as she turned her head until I was behind her and she turned her body to face me at every chance before I chose to go in and throw a feint with my feet, drawing her attention away just enough away to throw a strong right hook to her temple, pushing her face back a second as I reached for Slayer, managing to get it out of her hands and chuck it as far away as I could before I was kneed in my stomach.

''You dare touch me, vermin?'' Rin growled, rubbing the spot where I struck her, looking even more enraged. ''And you dare to touch my Suffering?'' the blue hue of her eyes began to glow even brighter as she roared, her hair going every which way before settling into spikes. Her skin began to darken, even more than my own tone until she turned to ash black, her voice reverberating as she howled and pushed me back again, though not with quite as much power, her groans and whimpers possibly telling me that Rin was fighting to gain control. ''That's right, Red; fight it! This isn't you!'' I shouted, seeing Daring be launched by Blank close to me, a disoriented look on her face as Blank raced forward with her wings, pushing her onto her back as she curved up into the sky and came back, hovering alongside Rin who still struggled to gain control. ''You good, Daring?''

''D-Define. . .good,'' Daring chuckled, the side of her forehead bleeding as her hat was somehow still on her head after all of that. ''What about G-Grass and Echo?''

''Tried to explain before I got slung outside. They don't seem to be under the same curse or whatever.'' I said, paying attention to our friends who just stood there, staring us down. "Rin, come on! You can-''

''-I told you. My. Name. Is. NIR!'' Rin charged forward, her mind seemingly mind up as she went and ran with Blank, who appeared the same as Rin, only her wings grew larger and her coat seemed to get lighter, almost like a light. The pair ran towards us, a shout of a command that came from Starlight as the townsfolk began to come in waves, chasing after their self supposed leaders.

I and Daring braced ourselves, attempting to take their attacks head-on if it meant we could have a chance of getting through to them. ''We'll get you guys straight, don't worry,'' I crouched down low, spaced my feet out, and said a silent prayer.

For Starlight.

''Tell me,'' Nir approached me, the Life Drive's symbols turning black, as the familiar Magical Circuits began to trailed over her body, the ones stopping short of her eyes glowing the brightest as she clenched her fist and chuckled. ''How much stronger am I in this form? Obviously more than you, but I would like to know the gap if you are able to provide one.''

I remained silent, trying to think of how best to deal with an enraged, Fusion-boosted, and identify stricken Rin. The look of non-compliance I gave her made her instantly frown and grab me up by the collar, the sickly look of sadism and curiosity in her eyes as she lifted me off my feet. ''Answer me, swine! Or this will be your last moments!'' I clutched at her hands, and in no way were they going to move unless she wanted to.

I grunted, deciding to speak; maybe I can turn this in my favor.

''Very much so, you could probably lift 1000 tons easily if you really wanted to. I've seen no real limit to your strength besides your body being the limiting factor,'' I grunted, the slightest pressure she increased constricting my neck.

''Hmm. . .I will have to test that theory; after I get done killing you!'' Nir laughed in my face, the tone of her voice doing little to comfort me. Whatever this spell was, it changed her entire mind.

''Jamir!'' Daring scrambled up and attempted to come to my aid, only for Vague to tackle her back to the ground and wrestle back and forth before chasing her in the air as they both took flight.

The situation was not looking good, but I had to resist; had to fight to get my friend back and stop this clown from causing any more pain. I-

''AHHH!'' a voice called out in the distance, a small projectile soaring through the air behind Nir, catching her attention before striking her in the head as her grip loosened and I was fell on my feet. Smoke began to form around her face and her hiss of pain filled my ears. Who-

''Challenger! Get back to The Optiquest!'' Hanabi called, unsheathing two of her swords and dragging her swords against each other, causing an explosion that sent Nir reeling back. Not missing a beat, she aimed one of her swords and sent a blast of fire to Vague, causing her to swoop out of the way and into Daring who managed to tackle her down to the ground again. ''I will hold the line!'' a shout of power echoed out as she planted her swords in the ground, causing an explosion that sent the majority of the town and Starlight back.

I got up and ran, my legs becoming a blur as I rounded around a large boulder and spied the ship, probably about a mile away. Why did we have to park so far?!

The shouts of the town began to die down some as another explosion sounded, the ground shaking a tad and a wave of heat followed. The side of the ship began to appear bigger as I braced myself to climb up on the ship, hopping on top of one of the cannons and clutching tightly onto the railing as I almost slipped and ended up on the deck after pushing myself up. Going to the shrouds, I spied the crate that I put my Life Drive in, fitting the gauntlet on my arm, hearing the A.I. system boot up from power-down mode as it authenticated my DNA signature.

''Ai! Master, you were not due for another 3 hours!'' Ai's voice sounded as I rushed towards the figurehead, turning my head to see one of the houses be toppled by Nir as fire flew down from the sky, presumably from Hanabi. ''What do you require?''

Simple.

''Yuu, Electrical Boost!'' I shouted, leaping off the ship, the feeling of being in the air giving me a nice feeling for the moment until I refocused. ''Ai, I need a platform!'' I felt the surge of electrical current flow through my legs and arms as I landed on an invisible platform, crouching down and leaping high into the air. ''Let's do this!'' I said, twisting my body and bracing my feet against another platform as I kicked off again from an angle, soaring back to the battle as I managed to catch Vague at the last second in the air from her escape of Daring.

''W-What?! Unhand me!'' Vague hissed, trying to bite me as I put her in a tight headlock.

''That's a big no!'' I yelled over the wind, not knowing if she really heard me or not. ''We're going down!'' I shoved her face in front, letting the somewhat soft ground crash into her face and drag her a few hundred feet before we stopped and I fought with her as she bucked, thwacking her hooves against my back as I increased the pressure of my hold and fighting to stay on the ground before I pressed harder than ever before, the breaths becoming far and few before she relented and slumped to the ground.

Seeing Nir fly back into one of the rock walls, Hanabi flew over to me, covered with dust and panting, one of her swords covered in blood. Her eyes were shaking like crazy, and she wobbled in the air until I let her rest for a moment in my hand. ''Challenger; whatever Starlight did, we must undo before things get worse!'' Hanabi grunted and attempted to stand up, only to fall back on her behind and breath heavily.

''You're right, but you're in no shape to fight. You look pretty beat up; where were you when this happened?'' I asked.

Hanabi pointed to the mare who was fighting off a pack of wolves created from Hanabi's fire. ''She ambushed us when Lady Rin and I were having a dialogue. I was hit and knocked out. I only recently came to when I heard the sounds of battle.'' I scrunched my nose and thought about what she said.

Then that means. . .

''Get in,'' I gestured to The Life Drive. ''I don't know exactly how long you've been away from Rin's, but you need to heal and recover, it's not up for discussion.'' I stared down the Fairy as she looked to say something but relented when she Rin slowly crawl out of the hole and regain her bearings.

''Very well, Challenger; I shall trust your judgment, just be sure to call on your comrades if you need them,'' Hanabi began to be surrounded by a wave of blue, pink, and purple energy and into The Life Drive after I gave the emergency override command.

''That's the thing,'' I cracked my neck, looking back at Daring as she stood with me, facing off against Rin as Starlight ran into the church, hopping into a hole that was covered by one of the pews. ''I need Rin, just as much as she needs me right now.''

''Feel the wrath of NIR!'' Nir charged forward, her hands covered in red, black, and gold energy. The faster she ran, the crazier she became.

''Yea, keep thinking that.'' I laughed, my eyes taking on a blue and pink hue as slivers of purple mist flowed out from my hands.