Sins of the Fathers

The building rush passed her like a blur as Dash flew down the street. She hated running from a fight but Twilight was right, they needed help.

“You know,” A voice came from right above her. Dash looked up to see the one called Firefly was right above her, riding a bolt of lighting. “It’s not a good idea to turn your back on the enemy.”

“How!?!” Rainbow Dash shouted, quickly turning left in hopes to lose her. But she watched as Firefly seemed to steer the lightning into one of the buildings. There was a roar of thunder and the building exploded with glass flying everywhere. Rainbow Dash quickly tried to dodge the shards but a few nicked her wings. She felt the burning pain but tried to push through. She looked up to see Firefly was above her again, getting close enough that Dash could feel the heat of the lightning.

“You should have learned to ride the bolt, child.” Firefly said, lifting a hoof in the air. Her hoof lit up like a light bulb. “Now, let’s put you to bed.” She brought her hoof down and a lightning bolt shot out. It hit Rainbow Dash right in her chest. The wind was knocked out of her and she felt the bolt travel through like fire. She crashed to the ground for the second time this day. She quickly started to get up but felt another blast of lightning hit her in the back. She cried out in pain as she still attempted to stand.

“A resilient little bugger.” Firefly said, landing a few paces away from her. “That usually leaves ponies paralyze for the rest of their lives; however short that may be.”

“I guess you just are not as good as you think,” Dash said, panting slightly. The bolt took a bit more than she wanted to let on.

“I’m beginning to see how we are related.” Firefly said. “It’s a shame you couldn’t become a true warrior.”

“I’m getting the sense that is an opportunity I’m glad to miss,” Dash responded. “Now, move.”

Firefly smiled and spread her wings. “Only if you can make me.”

Rainbow Dash charged forward.

⚔⚔⚔

Pinkie was not having the best time. The first hit from Surprise sent her flying into the window of a donut shop. She quickly got up but Surprise was right on top of her. She dived out the way as he smashed into the shop like a bulldozer. She quickly grabbed a nearby frying pan and swung as hard as she could on. The pan shattered when it hit his head and he just smiled before slapping Pinkie again. She slid across the floor and crashed into a couple of chairs.

“Nice try.” Surprise said, brushing pieces of iron off his head. “Many enemies have broken their weapons on me and you thought a frying pan would do the trick? No weapon can pierce my hide!”

“Then I just have to up my ante.” Pinkie said. She quickly pulled out her party cannon, loading it with a bowling ball and lit the fuse. Surprise cocked his head to the side.

“What’s that do?” He asked, seconds before it fired. The force knocked him back, sending him into a fruit cart.

“It does that!!!” Pinkie shouted, quickly reloading the cannon, this time with some bowling pins. “And now to score a turkey!” She quickly lit another fuse but before she could aim it, Surprise charged in and smacked the cannon in the air.

“Impressive!!!” Surprise shouted before winding back a hit. He hit Pinkie right in the jaw, sending her crashing into the wall of a shop.

“Oh cool.” Pinkie said, seeing it was another book store. “I should bring Twilight here, she’ll love this place.” She felt something grip her tail and pull her out of the wall with a quick yank.

“You know, I must say I’m impressed.” Surprise said as he held Pinkie upside down. “Even though you are outmatched in every way, you still fight. Tell me, is this because of misplaced trust in winning or thinking you will be saved by that princess. Let me make one thing clear to you.” He swung her by her tail into the ground with a loud smack. Pinkie felt the world spin as he lifted her off the ground again. “No pony is coming to save you.” He flung her into the sky, watching as she crashed a couple of blocks away.

⚔⚔⚔

Rarity was pushing herself to her limit running. She had managed to grab the Crusaders but the one shooting fireballs was not letting up.

“Come back here, pretty one!!!” Sparkle shouted as she shot another one right behind Rarity. “You can’t be this scare of a fight!”

“Stop following us,” Scootloo shouted back as Rarity kept running. They were heavy and it was getting harder to keep this pace. She needed Applejack. She looked to see another fireball raining down on her. She felt a rope wrap around her and yank her out of the way. The four slid to a stop to see Applejack had to pull them away just in time.

“Y’all okay?” She asked, pulling her lasso up. “We need to get them out of here.”

“I’m trying but that one is not letting up!” Rarity shouted. “I think we should take one of each Crusader and try to get out of here.”

“That might be the best...” Before Applejack could finish, a hoof smashing into her. Bowtie did a flying kick into Applejack and backflipped in the air. She landed on all four in front of Rarity.

“Better think again, Farmer,” Bowtie said, cracking her neck. “The fouls need to learn to bow to their new master.”

Rarity started to back up but a wall of fire lit up right behind her. Sparkle landed right beside Bowtie and summoned a fire whip.

“I got this, Bowtie.” Sparkle said, cracking her whip. “Go have fun.” She snapped the whip at Rarity’s hooves, causing her to cry out as the heat increased.

“You leave them alone!” Applejack shouted, diving right at Sparkle. Bowtie jumped in between them and drove her back right leg into Applejack’s stomach. She quickly followed the attack by throwing several punches at lightning speed into Applejack’s chest. Applejack tried to throw Bowtie off but she quickly spun around and started to bring down another series of blows. Applejack tried to block them but Bowtie kept weaving around her hooves like she was made of air.

“This is where my bloodlines end,” Bowtie muttered as she brought another hoof down on Applejack, hitting her in her right shoulder. “You should be ashamed. I’ve traveled all across this land to learn how to fight and you try cattle rustling techniques with me!?!” She smacked Applejack across the face, sending her across the road. “I’ve had to wrestle many creatures to their deaths and yet I feel no joy to this. Tell me, are you finding joy from this?”

“I’m not doing this for fun.” Applejack said, spitting a wad of blood on the ground as she got back up. “I do this to save my family. I do this for my friends. And I will not let you hurt any more innocent ponies!” She threw her lasso right at Bowtie, hoping to catch her off guard. But instead of dodging the lasso, Bowtie caught it with a right front hoof. As soon as Applejack pulled back, she felt no slack. She looked to see Bowtie started wrapping the rope around her hoof, pulling Applejack closer. She tried to pull back but Bowtie kept pulling her closer.

“Guilty or innocent, their blood all looks the same on my hooves,” Bowtie said, pulling Applejack closer. “And I think yours will too.” With one hard yank, Applejack went flying towards her. Bowtie time it to the second before jumping into the air. She did a spun kick and hit Applejack right in the chest, sending her spinning in the air.

⚔⚔⚔

Fluttershy was quickly running out of breath and she didn’t see a way to stop this anytime soon. The one called Posey wasn’t needing to move that much. All she needed to do was a whistle and she could shoot any loose items at Fluttershy. Another sharp whistle and Fluttershy quickly duck as five loose bricks came flying right at her. Fluttershy could barely recover when another whistle shot five more bricks at her.

“Come on now.” Posey sighed before making a short whistle causing another brick to be ripped from the ground. “I’m going to run out of patience and you are running out of time. Just fight me already!” She made another sharp note, causing several rocks to shoot up from the ground at a rapid pace. Fluttershy managed to dodge a few of them but one smack into her wing, causing her to crash into the ground. She tried to get back up, but she felt something wrap around her throat. Before she could move, she felt it tighten around her throat. She was lifted into the air and was struggling to get another breath. She looked to see that Posey was doing a low hum that caused a rope from one of the street vendors to wrap itself around her throat and to a lamp post. She tried to get out but another sharp note caused two more rope to wrap around her limbs and pulled the ropes taut. Fluttershy cried out in pain as Posey stop right in front of her

“One little note and I could tear you limb for limb,” Posey said, getting as close as possible to Fluttershy. “Now, be a dear and stay quiet. Don’t want your friends to get distracted, do you?”

⚔⚔⚔

Twilight had been in many duels, it comes with the territory of being a student of Celestia. That being said, this wasn’t like any duel she had ever been a part of. Bright Eyes immediately opened the fight with summoning a spell that shot several spears of energy at her. She cast a deflecting shield but Bright Eyes quickly reacted, summoning a large ball of electric energy. He set it hurling at Twilight with deadly speed, forcing her to teleport out of the way.

“He doesn’t want to beat me into submission.” Twilight thought, given the moment to rest. “He is going for the kill. Which means I can use his frustration to throw him off.”

“You need to keep your head in the battle.” A voice from above her called out. “If you don’t want to lose it.” Twilight looked up just in time to see the rapidly approaching Bright Eyes armed with a halberd. She barely got out of the way, causing the blade to graze across her ribs. Twilight felt her side’s burn as she quickly turned around to face the now floating Bright Eyes.

“A simple hovering spell,” Twilight remarked, trying to heal her wound. She felt the wound burn and refuse to heal.

“Can’t heal the scratch there, princess?” Bright Eyes mocked, spinning the halbert lazily. “This is Grand Inquisiton. The blade has a spell that keeps the wound open until I allow it close. I only bring it out for special enemies. Almost regretted not using it on the Sphinx but you know what, let’s correct that mistake.” He dived in and took another swing at Twilight. She ducked and dived to the left, shooting another beam. It hit him in his chest but he didn’t seem fazed by the hit. He quickly started moving in, raising his weapon again to deliver another strike. Twilight couldn’t keep up at this pace so she summoned a shield in hopes to slow him down. The blade smashed into the shield, getting caught.

“Oh, don’t tell me you don’t have a weapon.” Bright Eyes said with a growl. “All unicorns when they reach their fighting age should have one. Did your mentor not show you how to truly be the master of this world?” He twisted the hilt of the staff, causing the shield to start to falter. “Well, I guess I get to teach you some rules about combat.” He ripped the blade out of the shield and blink out of sight. Twilight quickly kept her guard up, knowing he was going to show up at any moment. Twilight felt a small breeze from below, giving her just enough time to summon another shield. But the blade broke through, causing it to slash across her chest. Twilight cried out in pain and pulled back as she tried to put as much distance between them.

“You never leave an opening for your enemy,” Bright Eyes said, flinging the blood of his blade. “Now, onto our next lesson...”

⚔⚔⚔

Rainbow Dash was trying to keep her breath even, standing there shaking. Firefly kept producing hit after hit lightning on her, barely getting any time to counter. She looked to see that Firefly, although her hair was a little frazzled, was standing tall and only looked a little annoyed.

“I’m impressed.” Firefly said, cracking her neck. “I’m starting to see how you could be my blood. But I’m sorry to say it but it's time for me to cut this short.” She thrust out her left hoof and Rainbow Dash watch as ice wrapped around it until it became a sharp point. She flung it, causing several water droplets to spray on the ground.

“Oh, you have to be kidding me.” Dash gasped, shaking off some sweat. “How are you doing all of this?”

“Oh, you simple child.” Firefly said, moving closer to Dash. “I told you that the clouds were supposed to quake to us. Be parted by us! But it is clear to me that you all have lost your way. So I must cut out the weak from the strong. I’ll start with you!” She dived forward, her hoof raised. Rainbow Dash barely dodged as Firefly slashed the air. But she didn’t get much to recover time as Firefly flipped around and brought her hoof on a downward swing. Rainbow Dash managed to drop to the ground but not far enough. The ice blade sliced down and caught Dash’s shoulder. She felt like she dived into an icy pond during the worst winter. She cried out and kicked away, pushing Firefly back a bit. But it wasn’t enough, as Firefly brought her hoof down on Rainbow Dash’s left back leg. She howled in pain, unable to move.

“And now, time to take you back to your friends.” Firefly said, pulling the ice blade out of her leg. She grabbed Dash by the throat and pulled her up. She pulled back her hoof and plunged the ice hoof deep into Dash’s side. “But I don’t have to take you back whole.”

⚔⚔⚔

Pinkie was reaching the end of her rope. She had thrown everything she could think of at Surprise but he just kept coming. Pinkie was going for another hit but Surprise beat her to it. He charged in with another smash, sending her down the road into a cart of nuts. Pinkie tried to get back up but felt her legs give out and she crashed back down with a groan of pain.

“It is clear to me that you can not continue fighting.” Surprise said, wiping his brow. “I can end this simply or if you keep struggling, I will draw this out as long as possible.”

“Can’t I interest you... In a nice game... Of chess?” Pinkie asked, panting as she tried to get back up.

“Never played.” He said before he hit Pinkie with the back of his hoof. It sent her sliding down the road where she came to halt as she smashed into Applejack.

“Not doing too hot, Pinkie.” Applejack said, trying to stay standing. “This Bowtie is beating me at every turn.”

“Applejack... I don’t think I can keep this up.” Pinkie said, a single tear falling from her. “He’s... Just too strong.”

“It’s not just about strength,” Bowtie shouted, stepping closer to them. “It’s about the will to survive and the follow-through that goes with it. You both lack the skill to defeat us and now you shall pay with your lives.”

“So how do you want to do this, Bowtie?” Surprise asked, shaking off the dust. “I’m getting bored of this.”

“I’m thinking, the Battle of Griffinstone,” Bowtie said, taking another step closer to the two. “What we did to the general and his daughter.”

“I can get behind that.” Surprise said, stepping back for another attack.

“Pinkie, we need to move.” Applejack said, pushing Pinkie back on her hooves. “Sugercube, we need to move.”

“I... Can’t... Move.” Pinkie said before collapsing on the ground. Applejack quickly stood over Pinkie and stared at the two approaching her, not seeing any hope in escaping.

⚔⚔⚔

Fluttershy screamed as the ropes started to tighten again. Posey let out another high pitch whistle, causing the ropes to pull even harder. After holding the note for a full minute, Posey stopped. The ropes went slacked and Fluttershy collapsed onto the ground.

“This is just sad.” Posey signed, adjusting her necklace. “It’s like pulling wings off a fly... Or a griffin. They squirm and scream in pain. So even beg for me to spare them. They share such secrets with me and I bet if I pull off enough limbs, you’ll spill every secret you ever had.”

“We don’t have time for this.” A voice said right above her. Posey looked up to see Firefly holding a barely conscious Rainbow Dash. She tossed her to the ground, landing right in the front of Fluttershy. “We should finish up here and get back to Bright Eyes.”

“You know,” Posey said with an eye roll. “I’m trying to enjoy my work. Bright Eyes doesn’t need us and in a few seconds, I’m pretty sure the other will be done with their targets. Just give me five minutes and...”

“Posey!” Firefly said, with strictness. “You can play with others. Finish this now.”

“Fine!” Posey spat back. “Always ruining my fun.” She looked at the two on the ground and made a low humming noise. Two windows shattered and the shards floated towards the group. As the shards floated right in front Posey, she stopped humming and made a sharp note. The shards turn in the air with the sharp ends aiming at the two. “And now for the final touch.”

⚔⚔⚔

Twilight was trying so hard not to pass out. Her body was covered in cuts that she couldn’t even begin to heal. She tried to teleport to give some distance but Bright Eye seemed to move faster with every second the battle went on. She tried to use her shield but his weapon easily broke it every time. Every blast of magic, he simply dispelled or blocked. Twilight was beyond spent, she was reaching her breaking point. She sent a large beam of magic, hoping that by it being continuously used that she would get a hit. At first, she thought she got a direct hit. She quickly saw that he dived into the beam, using his halberd to split through. Before she could react, he swung the halbert high and with the blunt end, rammed into her rib cage. A sicking crack filled the air as Twilight felt her several ribs shatter. She dropped from the air like a stone and crashed to the ground, causing her left front leg to snap on impact. She bit back a scream and tried to get back up but was quickly pinned to the ground by Bright Eyes. He quickly pressed the blade to the back of her head.

“So, this is the Princess of Friendship?” He whispered into her ear, keeping the blade steady. “I was hoping for some pony who was able to become this powerful beast who would be able to put up a better fight. But instead, you have allowed this age of peace to weaken the unicorn race. You couldn’t even get in a single wound.” He leaned in closer and started to raise his weapon again, allowing Twilight to quickly throw her head back. She smashed into his nose, causing him to jump back. Twilight quickly rolled over and with her good leg, grabbed hold of Bright Eyes. She pulled her head back and head-butted as hard as she could. She got a lucky hit with her horn, causing a large gash above his right eye.

“Augh! You bitch!!!” He shouted, sending a magic pulse right into Twilight. It knocked her back and Twilight started to feel a weakness go over her. She tried to get back up but she couldn’t get the strength back into her legs. She felt darkness starting to come over with a calming coolness. Before she loses all sense around her, she sees Bright Eyes standing over her.

“You think I’m done with you?” He growled, the blood dripping from his face. “I’m not done with you yet. This spell will keep you asleep until I’m ready for you. While you sleep, dream of all the ways I’m going to hurt your friends.” Twilight quickly fell unconscious. Bright Eyes sighed and raised his halberd in the air. Some of the wounds on Twilight healed with ease. He cast telekinesis over Twilight and started to lift her in the air when something rolled out from behind him. He looked down to see it was a small glass ball with some kind of smoke inside.

“What in the...” He started to mutter before the ball exploded, releasing a cloud of smoke. He immediately started coughing and dropped Twilight back on the ground. He quickly tried to clear the air but another explosion of smoke caused him to continue to back away.

“The Great and Powerful Trixie!” A voice called out from behind the veil of smoke. The smoke cleared, revealing to Bright Eyes two unicorns. One was wearing a star robe and a wizard hat while the other was tending to the injury Twilight. “Would like you to step away from her friend!”

Bright Eyes look at the two in stun silence before bursting into laughter. Starlight and Trixie shared a look before turning back to him.

“Who is going to save the great princess?” Bright Eyes said, chuckling. “A bard!?! Tell me, are you planning to lull me to sleep?”

“First off,” Trixie twirls her cape, causing it to twinkle in the light. “Trixie is no mere bard. She is the greatest magician to ever grace your sight!”

“Correction,” Bright Eyes said, twirling the halberd in the air. “You’re going to be the greatest dead bard if you don’t step away from my prey.”

“Step away from Twilight?” Trixie asked, pulling out a large sheet from seemingly thin air. “And lose the chance that she’ll own me one? I think not. How about I show you a new trick?” She flung the sheet at Bright Eyes. Bright Eyes watched as the sheet drift in the air and landed right next to him softly, like a leaf, near his back left hoof. He looked at the sheet, then back at Trixie with a raised eyebrow.

“Tell me, bard.” Bright Eyes said, starting to move forward. “Do you plan to annoy me too...AUGH!” Before he could finish his sentence, he felt something grab his leg. It caused him to fall forward and smack into the ground. He looked back to see a pair of cuffs had attached itself to his leg and a lamp post nearby. He pulled against it to feel it was solid steel and attached firmly to him. “HOW!?!”

“Trixie never reveals her secrets,” Trixie said with a dramatic flair. “And now if you would kindly surrender...” Trixie had to suddenly dodge as Bright Eyes teleport right next to them. He swung his weapon wide, managing to slice Starlight across her right side and smashing the blunt end of the staff into Trixie’s shoulder. Trixie managed to roll away but Bright Eyes quickly came at her.

“So, you think you can play your little game and distract me?” Bright Eyes said, raising his halberd high above him. “I see how you might save the princess but you fail to realize that she is not the only one in danger. How do you plan to save them all?”

“Simple, you uncultured brute,” Trixie said, throwing some dust right into Bright Eyes’ face. He was caught off guard and flew backward. He wiped the dust from his face and looked to see that Trixie had gained some ground. She was floating three rings that were connecting and disconnecting with ease. “Every good magician needs a few assistants.”