Come Dawn or Darkness

The moon was nearing its high point in the dark autumn sky, midnight was drawing closer and closer. Twilight was doing her best to keep up the pace, but it was quickly becoming clear to her that there was no way she could maintain such speeds for very long. This chase had been going on for almost half an hour, yet Applejack was showing no signs of slowing down. They had been galloping all-out since the very moment Rainbow Dash and Torrent had taken to the sky.

As she thought back on it, she started to realize just how much the entire plan went against everything she had ever read about situations like this. You never split up a group to cover more ground; but it's not like Rainbow Dash was just going to sit back and wait for the rest of us once she spotted that little monster. She ducked down, just barely avoiding a branch severed branch as it came flying back toward her head. Little twigs and bits of debris were whipping at her as they passed by, but she just shrugged them off. You never run at top speed right from the start; but I guess pacing yourself would be kind of counter-intuitive during a chase... More brambles and splinters smacked her as she bounded through, trying desperately to keep up with Applejack. And above all, you certainly. Never. EVER. Go running around at top speed through a densely-packed forest with a razor-sharp blade in your mouth!

Of course, Applejack couldn't hear any of it so that did them little good. Not that she would have put the blasted thing down even if she had heard, no more than Twilight would part with her new bracelet. No, not a bracelet. Come on Twilight, he went over this. No matter how pretty and fashionable this thing might be, its still a manacle... a shackle.... whatever, it's a binding, not a piece of jewelry. Applejack and Rainbow's gifts hadn't been nearly as well suited for their current environment as she might have hoped, but she was thankful that hers had at least been small wear. Rainbow Dash had hers safely up in the air above the tree line, but AJ's new sword was clenched between her teeth at ground level, tearing up the underbrush as they passed through it and sending the majority of it flying back toward Twilight.

"Before we set out though, there's something I need to give you. All of you... Because whether or not you actually end up needing them tonight, I can assure you that you'll be glad you have them in the days to come..." She could almost hear him saying it all over again. She thought back to the their little talk at the edge of the forest, just an hour earlier. She could still see Torrent standing there, her black bone dagger clutched tightly in his hand. She thought he had meant to give that to one them, but the dagger had merely been the key to the real treasure he'd had for them all.

He had whispered something in a language completely alien to her ears before bringing the dagger over his head and making a profound zig-zagging sweep downward through the air. It all had seemed very overly-dramatic, until she had realized that the blade had literally gone through the air! The shiny black bone razor disappeared as it tore into the very fabric of the world, ripping it apart in an intricate slash. Stranger still, only a moment later Torrent's hands disappeared as he plunged them into the newly-firmed hole and wrenched the two sides of it open.

It had all happened in a matter of seconds, yet the shear abnormality of what she was seeing made it seem to drag on for hours as she played it back in her mind's eye. "I've horded these away since the deaths of their previous owners. I apologize in advance if they feel a bit awkward... They were never really designed to be used by ponies... Though you're probably a good deal closer to what the makers had in mind than any human thats tried to use them..." With that, he had reached into the gap in reality, grabbed hold of a strangely shaped handle, and pulled out a long, slender straight-sword. It's blade had a deep orange hue to it, but the aura surrounding it was blue as a summer sky. That one he had given to Rainbow Dash, who, after fumbling with the hilt for a few minutes, found that it could, in fact, fit quite nicely between her jaws. Applejack had received her long, red falchion next; the blade was thick and curved, outlined by a deep purple glow.

By that point, Twilight had already guessed at her gift. I can't expect him to give me one as long or heavy as those two, but I'm sure he must have some kind of amazing glowing dagger in there; something filled to the brim with otherworldly energy and lore. Maybe it will have belonged to some great wizard that he met in his travels, or to someone who trained him when he was younger! She was all too familiar with how such stories went, with heirlooms of that caliber constantly passing from one generation to the next. Needless to say, her surprise was none too joyous when her teacher pulled out the shining ebony manacle and locked it around her foreleg, closing the rift as soon as her gift was out.

Even now she could feel the power flowing through the iron cylinder, a comforting heat radiating from it as glowed in the darkness. Suddenly, Applejack came to a halt in front of her, nearly leading to a collision as Twilight skidded to a stop. "Applejack? What is i-"

"Shh............ You hear that?" She listened for a moment, not picking up anything beyond the light rustle of leaves overhead as the breeze brushed through the tree tops. Then, from somewhere behind them, a far louder rustling began, this one along the ground and much much closer than she would have preferred. Something was moving through the underbrush, crunching the dry leaves and snapping a small twig as it came toward them. This thing probably isn't used to having to worry about staying silent while it hunts. There are no leaves or twigs in the Void that would give away its position to its prey. The thought was somehow comforting; in this environment, she and Applejack still had some advantage over it, even in the dark.

The rustling continued, stopping and then picking up as the creature became cautious of its targets. Finally, Twilight could wait no longer. "Alright, we don't have time for this. Come out!" Her horn began to glow as a wave of dark purple light washed over the area, a ripple of energy with her at its epicenter. The plants it passed over began to glow with a similar light, illuminating the space around them. The creature began to shriek in dismay as it was pulled into the air the spell's influence, but its cries were quickly cut off as total paralysis set in. "Gotcha. Ok, Applejack, your up."

"....Applejack? ...Any time now..." After a moment passed without any action from her partner, Twilight turned to see what was wrong, wondering if the earth pony had simply decided against ending the creature's life. What she found instead was not much better. Two more of the creatures had reared up behind them, clearly having been prepared to strike at the ponies backs when they while their attention was on the first stalker. Thankfully the spell had effected them as well, frozen in place and slowly rising into the air as the magic gripped them tighter. That was good, exactly the sort of effect she had hoped the new spell would cause. What caught her off guard, however, was the sight of Applejack suspended in the air in front of them.

The orange pony had turned around as soon as she heard the other two creatures approach them, sword still clenched tightly in her mouth. Now she was hanging in the air, frozen in place along with the rest of the creatures. No! How could I have been so stupid; of course it would effect her too! The spell had been designed to seek out masses of life energy, separating sentient beings and isolating anything with a high concentration of souls within it so that it could be more easily tracked. It was an old art, taught to her by Torrent and to him by the order of abomination hunters he had once been a part of. It made sense that, in place like the Void, it would make finding such creatures incredibly simple. She had assumed that even using it in a place as full of life as the Everfree Forest it would still work, separating the the soul-laden creatures of the Void from the non-sentient plant life. Why then would it effect someone like Applejack, who held only her own soul within her mortal form?

There was no time to think consider what would happen if she was wrong. She couldn't release the spell without freeing the three monstrosities; instead she ran back to Applejack, reared up on her hind legs, and knocked the sword from her mouth. The blade floated a few inches away from its owner before becoming stationary once more. With the vessel no longer in physical contact with her Applejack slowly began to move once more, jerking her head violently to one side as she finished the slash she had been attempting when Twilight's spell froze her.

"Grrrrraaahhh! ...huh, what the... Twilight? Twilight what'd ya do? Where'd ma sword go?" She looked up just enough to glimpse the two creatures floating above her, her sword suspended in front of them. "Gah! And what the hay happened ta them?! They were just about on top a us a second ago!"

"Theres no time to explain, we need to get rid of these things now, before the spell breaks."

"Well sure, but ah'd have a much easier time doin' that if ya'd bring ma sword back down here."

"No! That blade's a vessel for lost souls, and it must be pretty full right now if the spell was able to effect it like that. If you touch it you'll just get frozen in place like these little monsters all did. Now just give me a second, I think I have a spell that can take care of this..." ...I hope...

Twilight closed her eyes as she tried to think back to the training she had done in the Void just a few days before. The spells Torrent had been teaching her always had a greater initial toll on her stamina than her usual spells, and the exact mechanics of each usually required a great deal of concentration to remember. To her surprise, however, the spell she needed shot to the forefront of her mind almost immediately, saving her the trouble of having to recall the exact casting method she would normally need to follow. Alright Twilight, you've got one shot at this, don't screw it up.

Relax, child. You know what you are doing, you are prepared for this.

You're right, your right. I've practiced enough, time to see what these spells can actually do outside of the Vo-AHHHHHHH"-HHHHHHHHHHHHH! Voices! I'm hearing voices! In my head! And their not mine! Oh no, I'm going crazy aren't I, oh I knew all this power was too good to be true! Oh Celestia, why now?!"

"Twilight! Twilight, snap outa it, girl!" Applejack nearly smacked her on the head in an attempt to knock some sense back into her, but stopped herself upon realizing that Twilight's spell was still the only thing holding the beasts around them in place. "Twilight, just calm down! Ya ain't going crazy, its just these gifts! Ah heard some voices when ah was holding my sword, they ain't nothin' dangerous, just part of bein' in physical contact with the dang things."

She's right you know.

Your not helping! Now just shut up and let me concentrate, I'll worry about whether or not I'm going crazy after we're out of this little mess.

Thatagirl

STOP TALKING TO ME!

Focusing on the three abyssal beings she was holding up, Twilight began to channel the energy she had been releasing into the area directly into the her captives. The aura faded from the plants, from the insects on the ground, and finally from the sword hanging in the air, sending it plunging into the dirt. Applejack rushed to pick it back up, clearly concerned that it might disappear into the Abyss like Torrent's if she let it lie there for too long. Finally, feeling no other life caught in her spell but that of the three creatures, she allowed the fullness of the curse to be released.

Bright purple light filled the three airborne monsters, their screams silenced by the paralyzing effects of the spell. The light emanated from them, three little suns illuminating the woods and sending violet rays up through the trees. Slowly, the creatures' shells began to break, giving off a slow, sustained CRACK, like the sound of ice splitting. The cracks grew as more power rushed into the bodies of the flayers, filling them with power Twilight had learned to channel directly from the void. Combined with her own personal brand of energy, an incredibly volatile form of sorcery was working its way through the beasts.

Its time, child. Release them from their collective bonds!

There was no time to retort, and in the end Twilight saw no point in even trying. The voice was being far more helpful and supportive than her own subconscious had ever been to her. Moreover, it was right, any more power and the resulting detonation might be too strong. She did not want to risk hurting Applejack just to see how far she could push her own magical limits. With one last jolt of focus, picturing her three targets clearly in her mind's eye, Twilight thruster her horn skyward. The aura's brightness intensified to a point where it would have been painful to look upon, with the glow surrounding and penetrating the monsters following suit. Then all four sources of light went out simultaneously, the forest falling into a state of unnatural darkness after being filled with such blinding light.

The air stood still, the leaves trembled, all sound ceased to exist. Suddenly a deep rumbling began to permeate the sudden silence, vibrations filling the air and coursing through the ground. Then, with all the devastating glory of a clap of thunder, sound rushed back into the world. The three beasts shattered with one last massive CRACK!!! Their shells burst apart, shrapnel flying everywhere. Several chitinous shards impacted against both Twilight and Applejack, with the trees and underbrush absorbing most of the spread. Yet even as the pieces collided with their targets they merely turned to ash as soon as they made contact, harmlessly poofing away to nothingness.

A sudden flurry of colored lights erupted from the spots where the soulflayers had been suspended only a moment before. They shot up skyward, making a mad dash for the open air above the leafy canopy. But before they could more than a few feet away, something pulled them back down to the ground. They were being drawn back to their rescuers, forcefully guided to Twilight's position, and sucked into her new manacle. All she could do was watch in horror as the thousand tiny souls they had just freed were once more imprisoned, and now upon her own person rather than in the bowls of some abomination from the shadows.

She wanted to ask the voice in her head what had happened, why the souls hadn't passed on like they were supposed to. Unfortunately, her thoughts were interrupted by the clash of metal several yards away. "Gah!" The scream was unmistakable, its owner clearly in pain.

"That sounded like Rainbow Dash! We gotta get over there and help her, are y'all gonna be alright Twilight? Those lights in your bracelet didn't hurt ya none, did they?"

She saw them too.... Then I wasn't just imagining it. Alright, no problem; we'll just go help Rainbow Dash, find Torrent, and then he can fix all of this. Simply as that!

"No, no. I'm fine! Now quick, we can't waste anymore time talking, Rainbow might be in real danger out there!"