Playing with Fire

A hard knock was heard at Gem Paws door when all the rest of the group were trying to get as much sleep as they could. It wasn’t quite so easy to sleep during an apocalyptical hell where everything outside felt like it was around two hundred degrees.

Gem Paws woke up to the sound of hard banging on the door, assuming that it could only mean something troublesome. She knew that even if it was Solar Dots banging at her door at that moment, she still wouldn’t be in as much trouble as Flusk or even the rest of Ifera ByFlame. Gem Paws felt that since it was her brother, which was now a creature of pure flame, she wouldn’t get in as much trouble as the rest. She knew she had to do something though.

Gem Paws swung open the door with a baseball bat in her hooves as she shut her eyes tightly with gritted teeth, screaming out. “I swear, I’ll do it!”

“Uh..Do what now?”

One of Flusk’s other friends who lived way out of state came to drop by to check on them. Her name was Reese. She knew about the events of Solar Dots because her and Flusk had been writing to each other during the entire pandemic. They never left out any details when writing to each other. Reese knew where they were located as well because of her writing time with Flusk.

Gem Paws froze suddenly and developed a curious look on her face. “Um, wait. Who are you?”

“Flusk didn’t tell you? Allow me to introduce myself! I am Reese and I am the mare that has been writing to Flusk during this whole pandemic with your brother. My town is also kind of being fucked as we speak.”

“Umm..Let me wake up Flusk for a second. I need to be certain of who you are before I let you in..No offense.”

“None taken mate.”

Gem Paws quickly trotted upstairs to the room that Flusk was sleeping in. She put her hoof on Flusk’s shoulder and started shaking it gently in attempts to wake Flusk up.

“Flusk, there’s somepony that goes by the name of Reese who is here to see you?”

Flusk turned over slowly with drowsy eyes. She was still in her pajamas and she spoke in a tired voice. “Oh..Yes, of course. I will be right down. I know her so it’s alright.”

“Well, alright. That’s good at least.”

Flusk slowly trotted down the stairs while yawning and dragging herself in a lazy like manner. She had just woken up so early in the morning and Flusk was not a morning pony. She quickly trotted to the door suddenly when she saw Reese standing there.

“Reese, It’s you!”

Flusk ran up to her and pulled her into a big hug.

Reese chuckled softly. “Hey Flusk! Are you all having as much fun as I am during this disaster?”

Reese of course was only joking when she said the word fun. She clearly emphasized her words in an exaggeratory tone.

“Fun? Oh yeah, you bet..It isn’t every day that your best friend goes insane and kills everypony…”

Flusk only exaggerated her tone as well before coming to a long and soft exhale. She was clearly in pain as she tried to make some kind of humor in such dark times to brighten her day in any kind of way she knew possible.

“Yeah..So amazing..”

Flusk suddenly snapped out of her depressive state she was in when she was dwelling on those dark moments.

“So, um. Do you want to come in?”

“Well jee, I’d love to. I’ve only been standing out here for about five minutes now. You think that I’d like to come in!” Reese laughed to herself with her hoof over her mouth at her statement.

“Yes, of course! Come inside and grab a seat!”

Reese trotted in as Flusk shut the door with her magic. Reese looked around at the pleasantly decorated home before turning her attention to Gem who was sitting on an arm chair, petting her grey and white cat, Crunchy. The cat softly stretched before curling up onto Gem’s lap. Reese smiled a little bit at them before she chose a spot on the couch and Flusk sat beside her.

“So uh..What are you doing here? I wasn’t expecting you to show up. Actually..I was wondering how you were doing as well since you kind of..Disappeared during the gala.”

“Oh, right, I suppose I should have warned you guys ahead of time but uh..I knew about Solar before he decided to go all insane and all.”

“What?!” Flusk gasped. “But how?!”

“You see, I have this freaky ability where I can predict things before they happen. It’s fucking weird and almost scary to deal with. When I was on the train, I got a vision of him and the castle burnt to a crisp so I just decided, fuck it, I wasn’t going to get wrapped up in that shit. So, I turned right around and took the train back home. Kind of selfish of me now that I realize. But, you all seem like you’re in one piece anyhow, right?”

Flusk’s eyes widened as Reese could suddenly tell she hit a nerve there by saying that. Flusk lowered her head so her blue mane cast a shadow over her eyes as she stared sadly at the floor.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me..Who died.”

“D-Deku..”

“God damn it!”

Reese slammed her hoof on a nearby table which startled Flusk from her sadness. Reese’s face wasn’t one of sadness but rather anger which surprised Flusk. She knew Reese wasn’t exactly known for being calm and collected but even when she found out one of her dear friends had died, she was angry? It didn’t make sense.

“Please don’t break my table. That was a lot of bits.” Gem piped up.

“You don’t know how many dead bodies I saw on the way here..A-And now..Deku’s gone?..This is absolute horseshit.” Reese said, ignoring Drizzle’s sister.

“I know..I wish..I wish I knew sooner about Drizzle. I could have prevented Deku’s death and maybe..You know..Talked some sense into him.”

“I don’t think you could have. That dude seemed about ready to kick the bucket a few times. We all knew there was something wrong with him but there was nothing we could have done.”

A silence passed through the room as Gem continued to pet her cat with her hoof and give a death stare to Reese, rather annoyed at the fact Reese ignored her and technically insulted her brother. Even if her brother had gone down the wrong path, she still cared for him and loved him. He was her family after all. Even if he had caused thousands of ponies lives to be taken.

“You know what..I’ve been wondering this for a while actually.”

Flusk looked up and met Reese’s stern eyes. They were still full of the pain of grief but they were full of curiosity at the same time too. Maybe even a bit of confusion.

“Why do you talk about him with so much care? You do realize he’s responsible for so many ponies dying. Not only that, but he betrayed your trust and he acted like he didn’t even care about you at all. To me, he isn’t worth worrying about at all.”

“Excuse me but if you’re going to talk about my brother like that, you can get out.” Gem stood up suddenly, half shouting at Reese.

“Flusk invited me in here you bitch. You can’t just fucking kick me out.”

“This is my house asshole! If you wish to start shit with me then get the fuck out of my home bitch!”

Flusk folded her ears, sinking into the couch more. She really didn’t want to be a part of this arguing, neither did she want Reese and Gem to fight. She didn’t necessarily agree with what Reese said about Drizzle but she also didn’t agree with what Gem was saying either. It was rather harsh and unnecessary. In fact, all of it was at this point.

“That monster you call a brother is probably just going to burn this damn house down anyways! Why bother fighting over a house that most likely will just be used as firewood?!”

“Call him a monster one more time and you will see exactly what the fuck will happen to-”

“STOP!”

All three mares looked over to the side, seeing Honeysuckle and Sea Biscuit standing there. Honeysuckle had her ears folded as she stood her ground and Sea Biscuit cowered behind his older sister.

“Please..Stop fighting. It’s not helping.” Honeysuckle hesitantly said.

“You brought his children over here?” Reese asked.

“Well yeah, Flusk’s house burned down and it’s not exactly safe in River Breeze..Flusk told me Drizzle hit there pretty hard.” Gem answered, a little snappy at Reese.

“All those unfinished manuscripts..Burned to a crisp.”

Flusk teared up at the thought as Reese only rolled her eyes and trotted away from the living room. Reese turned her attention to a window where she could see large clouds of smoke in the distance, most likely from River Breeze.

“Well, the kid’s got a point. We’re not going to defeat that Solar guy by arguing here. Besides, he’s got guards and from my prediction, you’ve already encountered them before, correct?”

“Yeah..You’re right.” Flusk replied.

“So, if he’s powerful, they’re obviously going to be powerful as well. And since you were once his best friend, I’m pretty sure he’s looking for you so he can get revenge on you. I don’t know why but villains don’t usually make any sense, so bare with me.”

Reese flew through the air for a moment before landing in front of Flusk, her hooves making a clop noise when they hit the floor.

“He most likely has his guards searching for you right now and if that’s true, they’ll find you soon. Your little friend’s house is going to give it all away and this home really will become his personal campfire. We need to leave before that happens.”

“But where? There’s nowhere to go. He’s destroyed everything.”

“Heh, you obviously haven’t traveled much. Neither has he. You’ve got a real advantage here.” Reese replied, smiling slyly at Flusk. “All we need to do is plan a way out of here without getting caught.”

“Right, five grown mares and four children. You’ll never be able to pull it off.” Gem Paws suddenly said.

“Who said you were coming?” Reese answered rather coldly.

“Of course I’m coming bitch. Don’t even dare test me. If I don’t come, then my house will be up in flames as well. Besides, these are my nieces and nephews so of course I’m coming you dense bitch. I am related to these children, you are not.”

Gem Paws looked like she was about to literally kill Reese on the spot when Flusk got in the way of both of them quickly.

“Remember what Honeysuckle said. Arguing isn’t the answer!” Flusk said, her voice a little panicked.

Gem Paws spoke up. “How am I supposed to not argue when she won’t shut the fuck up?! The bitch is in my house for one and for two, I didn’t have to take her in.”

“Do I need to learn a silence spell to get you both to stop or what.” Flusk replied, folding her ears in annoyance.

“Fine, I’ll stop. But I’ve got a plan so listen up. I think it’ll work smoothly if we follow it. That is, if Gem is willing to follow it.”

Annual stared up at the sky which was engulfed in flames. At her fathers grave site, she finally had the solidarity to scream at the top of her lungs. She screamed loudly, letting out a ruckus cry. She hugged his tombstone which now had flowers upon it and a picture of him.

Her voice loudly cracked in between her crying screams. “Dad! No! Don’t leave me! Come back! I can’t make it without you! Don’t leave me, please! No!”

Her screams started to crack as she was having a mental breakdown. She looked up into the flame filled sky and screamed out in frustration, finally letting off some of the steam that she had kept in so much around her grandmother. Her face was visibly red with anger. She almost cursed out to the sky as if she was speaking to Solar Dots directly himself.

“I fucking hate you bastard! When I find you, I will fucking kill you! I will kill you just like you killed my father! Fuck you and everything you fucking stand for! I hate you! I hope you get buried the fuck alive! You will pay for what you did to my father!”

She panted roughly after her enraged moment, catching her breath from screaming. She had finally let off some steam and vented to herself. She had been keeping in such raw emotion for so long during this terrible crisis because she didn’t want to upset her grandmother. She cried out so loudly and hard because she knew that she had time to herself to be able to do so. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to take on Solar Dots but at that moment, she would say anything because of how angry she was.

She stared up at the flame like sky which had smoke slowly cascading everywhere across the sky as she let out more tears. The tears slowly streamed down her face because she had calmed down a little since her fit of rage.

“Daddy..Help me. Please give me a signal or a sign..Anything really. Help me daddy...Don’t leave me all alone now..Daddy, I miss you so much...”

She cried silently to herself as she threw herself onto his grave. She felt like there was no hope anymore.

She soon heard a soft breeze whistling in the wind. She heard the soft quiet whispers from the wind blowing around her and into her ears. It seemed to have an angelic tone.

“Save yourself love. Don’t cry over me..”

Annual quickly raised her head after hearing those words from nowhere. “I..Dad? Who’s there? Daddy! Is that you?”

A tiny toy train appeared beside her hooves from Deku’s magical creation of his own. Her eyes shot open from shock. She smiled big as her tears continued to stream down her cheeks.

She screamed out in happy tears. “Daddy, it is you! Daddy!”

She picked up the tiny toy train in her hooves and seemed to hug it tightly as much as she wanted to hug her father. Deku suddenly appeared in front of her as his spirit.

Annual was so deeply touched and happy in this moment. She ran into her fathers arms for the last time as she spoke out loudly to him.

“Daddy..I’ve missed you so much. I love you so much daddy!”

“You do know that I will have to go soon though, don’t you? I wish I could stay forever as well.”

“I know daddy..But let’s just have this one moment to ourselves. While it lasts..”

“Of course my princess..”

They hugged for so long and wouldn’t let go of each other until it was his time to fade away back into the heavens. He knew he could use this one chance he had to see her again, even if it was just for a while. He summoned up all his power to come back to her for a few moments. The moment seemed so magical between the two. She finally got to see her father again for a few more moments and hold him in her embrace. He finally got to see his daughter again and let her know that she was going to be okay.

“I may not be here physically but I will always be with you in my spirit, no matter where you are or what you do. For now, you have to keep safe with your grandmother. Go home to her my love. She’s worried sick about you..”

“I promise that I will daddy..”

Deku started to fade away from her as he said his finale words to her before he left. “Remember everything that I’ve told you and never forget all the good moments we have had. Never forget that my love..”

He finally faded away before Annual spoke out in joyous tears. “I’ll never ever forget that daddy..Never..”

Solar Dot’s guards banged loudly on Gem’s door with their fire like hooves. It seemed that they had found their hiding place just like Reese had said they would and there were at least five of them here. Solar must have been set on capturing Flusk and her friends.

“By order of Lord Solar, we order Flusk Flurry to surrender at once or else we will take action immediately.” One of the guards demanded.

The door swung open suddenly as Flusk herself walked out with her head hung downwards and her ears folded. The others hung back behind her but they also stood close, all having a defeated look on their faces. Gem even had the children close to her with Lance and Bliss on her back and Honeysuckle and Sea Biscuit beside her.

A guard suddenly placed a spear at Flusk’s neck firmly in defense. She flinched a bit at the act, not expecting it.

“Do you surrender or not?”

“We surrender!” She said, her voice a bit shaky in fear.

The spear was removed from her neck and she relaxed once more. Flusk looked back at Reese who gave her a small wink and a smile in approval before she turned her attention back to the guards in front of them.

“Lord Solar has demanded for us to escort you to the castle. We will leave at once.”

The guards suddenly formed a small circle around the group. Some now being behind the others, some at the sides, and two at the front where Flusk and Crescent stood.

The guards pushed Gem and the children to go as Gem fought back her rising anger. She knew that if she lost it at these guards, they would only kill her and the others. Releasing her anger on them would not benefit them in any way, even if she really wanted to.

The group trotted down deserted towns and crumbling pathways as they made their way to Solar Dot’s castle, the same place they had been before with their first encounter of the fire guard. This was Gem and Drizzle’s children’s first time and they all looked horrified and amazed at the sight of the castle. Reese however seemed to have seen this castle before in her visions and didn’t seem too impressed.

As they walked across the bridge that was above lava, Sea Biscuit and Honeysuckle clung to Gem Paws legs a little, terrified of what was below them. Gem couldn’t really reassure them like she wanted to considering the guards were pushing them toward the castle but she looked back at them both and gave them a comforting smile.

They finally stepped on the bright red carpet of the castle as they admired the fire-like decoration everywhere. Flusk wasn’t too impressed by all the red and orange colors surrounding her but that was the least of her worries right now.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Flusk Flurry. I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon. Then again, your power is nothing compared to my creations so I expected this.”

Flusk and the others remained silent, simply just staring at him. He narrowed his eyes as he approached Flusk, putting his hoof under her chin and roughly moving her face from side to side so he could inspect her.

“Not a scratch..Interesting..You didn’t even put up a fight. You’re not much of a ‘flurry’ as I previously thought. Flurries are considered strong and windy but you’re nothing but weak and pathetic. You wear that name horribly.”

He noticed a bit of tension in her eyes but otherwise, she didn’t respond to that.

Solar turned his attention to the rest of the group and his eyes widened upon seeing Gem Paws and his children. Something almost flickered within his orange eyes before they returned normal again.

As his eyes flickered from Drizzle’s eye color to Solar Dot’s, inside the conscience of the form that was Solar Dots was nothing but Drizzle trying to escape Apate’s hold on him.

Drizzle Dots screamed out inside his own conscience. “Apate, let me go! Don’t do this! I know I wanted control over the ponies but this is too much!”

“NO! NEVER! I will never let go of you!” She laughed evilly inside the conscience of Solar.

“Don’t hurt my children! Don’t hurt my sister!”

“Oh, sweetheart..I need to keep them alive. Afterall, they’re precious to you right? They could be of major use to me..”

As everything snapped back to reality, Solar Dots eyes faded back to his orange color.

“Oh, my sister and my wonderful children..Come hither! I have so much to show you in what I’ve done with my glorious creations!”

“Drizzle?..What happened to you?” Gem asked, a concerned look on her face.

“I am no longer Drizzle Dots. I’m a stronger pony now with great power.” Solar gestured towards himself and began walking another way. “Come now, I’d like to show you a few of my greatest creations. It’s only fair of me to give you a better explanation after all.”

Gem looked over to the others and then Solar again. “But wait, what about them?”

Reese suddenly started to shake her head at Gem, trying to communicate to her that this wasn’t part of the plan. Gem seemed to notice and looked uneasily at Solar again.

“Them? Oh pfft, don’t worry about them. This is a family matter.” Solar responded, looking rather coldly at the rest of the group. More specifically Flusk.

Gem sighed and started to walk with Solar, his children following closely behind her. Solar looked behind him one last time as his eyes seemed to suddenly pulse orange and then return back to the way they were.

The guards suddenly jolted awake in their places as they surrounded the group more closely. They started to escort them to the dungeons of the castle, just like they had planned.

The air was a lot heavier and rather suffocating in the dungeon considering it was right next to Solar’s lava pits. The dungeon had rusty bars and grimy floors. It definitely would be considered a health hazard staying in this place. Not that Solar ever cared about his prisoners.

Flusk coughed a bit, inhaling the dirty air along with a few ashes. She wondered if he ever burned ponies alive down here as punishment. It sure smelled like he did. Other than the smell though, she really wasn't looking forward to being pushed anywhere near these cages.

“Look, there’s the princesses!” Heart whispered.

Flusk eyes widened as she looked to her left, seeing both Princess Aphrodite and Princess Regalia both in a cage. She never seen them look so weak and defeated before than she did now. They both seemed to be sleeping out of exhaustion or simply just didn’t have the strength to raise their head and look towards the group. Flusk felt anger bubbling up inside her upon seeing Princess Aphrodite locked up in a place like this..It wasn’t fair at all. Who knew what Solar had done to them here..Flusk didn’t want to know as much as she did at the same time.

Flusk and the others glanced over to Reese silently as Reese nodded, a mischievous smirk appearing on her face. Reese suddenly bucked out behind her and knocked over a guard with her back hooves, alerting the other guards around them.

“Flusk, duck!” Reese called out.

Flusk did as she was told and ducked, a guard punching the air right where her head was. Heart used this to her advantage and flipped the guard over, slamming him to the ground.

“They’re going to try and use their fire on us. Crescent, do you have the water?” Reese asked.

“Yea but if there’s too much movement going on, I might spill this.” Crescent said, holding a small bucket of water with her magic.

“Flusk, Heart, distract them. It’ll work, I promise.”

“What do you mean distract them?!” Flusk asked.
Heart suddenly picked up Flusk by her arms and flew into the air. The guards seemed distracted by this action as they shot fire at Heart and Flusk. Flusk screamed, covering her eyes with her hooves as Heart darted here and there, dodging the fire.

“Give me the bucket of water!” Reese shouted.

Crescent levitated the bucket of water to Reese as she grasped it into her hooves, flying up above the guards. She dumped it above them, showering the guards with water. All the ponies heard was a slight sizzling noise and a bit of steam but the water seemed to have no effect on them.

“What?! How did that not work!” Reese shouted angrily.

“I don’t know, you’re the one who can predict things!” Flusk replied.

“I can’t predict everything, idiot!”

The guards shot more fire at Flusk and Heart as Heart flew the other way. The fire just caught the end of Heart’s tail as it sizzled and burned the end.

“You could have predicted that!” Flusk shouted.

“Do you even know how prediction works?!”

Heart set her and Flusk on the ground as they all regrouped. Unfortunately, the guards were pushing them all into a wall, trapping them. At least when they were separate, they could have directed their attention elsewhere.

“Well if you’re so sure of my prediction, why don’t you use your little unicorn magic, huh? You unicorns look all pretty with those stupid horns and don’t even know how to use them!”

“It’s not my fault that my magic doesn’t work!” Flusk replied angrily.

Crescent’s horn glowed as she shot a blast at the guards in an attempt to take them down. They seemed momentarily stunned but they recovered again within a few seconds.

“Wait, the magic did something to them..Water put them out before but they’re stronger now..The magic stopped them for a moment but they recovered..Why don’t we combine magic and water?” Flusk thought out loud.

“It’s worth a shot.” Crescent said.

Crescent’s horn glowed again except the aura started to change. It turned into a sparkly clear liquid that spun around her horn. It started to build up around her horn before she suddenly let it lose, shooting it at the guards in front of them. The water splashed on them as loud sizzling and steam came out of the guards. Crescent continued to shoot them with water until they were nothing but a pile of ashes on the grimy floor.

“Nice idea, Flusk! It worked!” Crescent smiled at Flusk.

“I honestly wasn’t expecting it to. That was just a guess.” Flusk smiled sheepishly.

The group now galloped up to the cage holding the princesses. Flusk folded her ears, her heart hurting at the sight of them. She reached her hoof towards the bars holding them when she suddenly recoiled, flinching at the sudden burning sensation she felt through her hoof.

“You okay, Flusk?” Reese asked.

“Y-Yeah..I think so.” She replied, rubbing her hoof gingerly.

Crescent went up closer to the bars and squinted, inspecting them further.

“It’s a spell, just as I thought. Solar used magic on the bars.” Crescent said.

“Great, well, we’re doomed.” Reese said in a monotone voice.

“Not quite. We haven’t at least tried our own magic yet.”

Crescent’s horn lit up as she shot a blast at the bars. They could see small sparkly aura fading around the bars before it suddenly just disappeared. Flusk was rather quick to open the cage door as she galloped in, the others slowly following behind.

“Princess Aphrodite!” Flusk called out.

Flusk galloped up to the princess lying on the ground. She sat beside her and gently lifted her head toward herself. Aphrodite seemed like she was still rather worn out but she slowly opened her blue eyes at Flusk.

“Flusk?..”

“Yes, it’s me! I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. There’s just been so much going on and-”

Aphrodite weakly pressed her hoof to Flusk’s mouth, shushing her from continuing her sentence. She smiled at her as Flusk noticed small tears forming in her eyes. Flusk could have sworn she was about to cry herself as Aphrodite slowly pushed herself up onto her hooves, bringing herself into a sitting position. She wrapped her hooves around Flusk and hugged her.
“I missed you..” She said softly in Flusk’s ear.

Flusk actually had tears falling down her face now as she hugged her back and smiled.

“I missed you too..I wish things didn’t go the way they have.”

They let go of each after a long embrace and Aphrodite spoke again.

“What’s happened has already happened. I’m just happy to see he didn’t hurt you.”

“Well..He did hurt me. More mentally rather than physically.”

“I wish I could have been there to protect you.” Aphrodite replied, kissing Flusk on the cheek as the dark unicorn blushed furiously.

“You know, as much as this mushy gross stuff is cool and all, we should get out of here before Solar notices.” Reese said.

Flusk responded quickly. “Yes, we need to get out of here pronto.”

Flusk soon teleported all of the group out of the dungeon as the group ran up the stairs to escape his castle. The castle was very huge like most castles so the echoing of their trotting hooves could be easily heard, even from a distance.

As the group was quickly running up the stairs, Solar Dots could suddenly hear the several sounds of galloping hooves, making its way up the stairs from the dungeon. Solar Dots was quickly angered by the fact that he knew the group was escaping.

Just as the group was finally making their way to one of the back entrance doors in the castle, Solar Dots suddenly teleported in front of them in a ball of fire. He made a loud stomping on the ground as he teleported in front of the doorway which blocked them from getting out.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

The group gasped loudly and screamed by the shock of his sudden appearance.

Heart screamed out suddenly due to being the most timid among the group. “Don’t eat our souls!”

Flusk quickly folded her ears down along with Crescent. Reese was silent as well for once, she knew that she wanted to say a lot but if she did, she would end up dead too. Solar Dots of course loved being the bringer of pain and the tormentor of ponies. He also loved preying on the weak as well. It enlighted his demented fantasies.

Solar suddenly put up a barrier which prevented them from escaping. Gem Paws quickly covered the children's eyes and ears to be able to not see any of this horrific activity. Gem Paws suddenly spoke out.

“Brother, don’t do this! You're better than this!”

“Oh my dear sister. I am sorry but, I must.” He laughed demonically in his statement.

“Brother! Please..No..”

Solar Dots simply disregarded his sister and turned his attention back to the group. Solar suddenly started to grab Heartstrings by her mane as the group heard her screams in anger.

Flusk screamed loudly at Solar. Reese was holding Flusk back from getting herself killed as well.

“Let her the fuck go you fucking swine! Get your fucking hooves off of her!”

Solar only laughed and threw Heart down to the floor roughly as the group ran after Solar in anger without thinking rationally of what he could do to them. All they knew is that their friend was being hurt and Flusk was not about to let Solar Dots kill another one of her friends. This only fueled their rage.

As they charged at Solar Dots while screaming in anger, Solar Dots suddenly blasted a barrier at them which caused the group to go bouncing back roughly against the wall. Aphrodite held onto Flusk suddenly as they slid against the wall roughly in attempts to protect Flusk’s small frame.

Solar spoke out laughing at the group, mocking their attempts to help Heartstrings.

“Fucking pathetic and hilarious that you thought that charging at me would do shit. Especially since all of you are so fucking weak.”

Heart couldn’t do anything but scream in fear as she tried to drag herself away from him. Solar suddenly dragged Heartstrings back by her tail with his magic. As he hovered over Heartstrings, there was visible fear in her eyes as he towered over her with his tall frame. He suddenly started to pin Heart down with his hooves as he pressed hard on her front hooves.

Heart screamed out loudly in agony. “No! Please!”

Solar suddenly pressed down a lot harder on her hooves which put her through massive pain. The group couldn’t do anything but watch in fear.

Flusk screamed out loudly. “Please, don’t do this to her! Stop!”

Solar Dots pressed his hooves down really hard down on Heartstrings front hooves as she screamed out in pain. The group heard a loud crunching sound, looking terrified. Heartstrings hooves were being crushed by Solar Dot’s massive frame pressing down on her. Her hooves were being broken slowly by him. All that could be heard were terrified screams from the group and massive screams from Heartstrings and also the crying of the group.

Aphrodite suddenly spared Flusk some visuals by putting her hoof over Flusk’s eyes because in all of Aphrodite’s six thousand years of life, she was used to seeing more and she knew she could handle it better than Flusk could.

“Flusk..Don’t look..Please..”

Flusk was now blinded from the visuals from Aphrodite’s hoof in her view and could only hear the panicking and screams from Heart and the rest of the group. Aphrodite and Regalia knew they had to stay strong for the rest of the group though, as much as it disturbed them as well.

Regalia soon summoned up the massive courage in the fighting spirit that she was to run at Solar Dots and push him over. As Regalia ran up to Solar and hit him in the head hard with her hoof, Solar finally got off Heartstrings and grabbed his head in pain from Regalia’s massive hit to his head. Crescent and Flusk suddenly combined their magic and shot a huge blast at Solar Dots barrier while Solar was distracted from his pain.

Crescent screamed out loud while blasting their magic. “Now!”

As the two broke down the barrier in those couple of seconds that they could break the barrier down in a sudden emotional burst, it empowered their magic more. Magic was often related to powerful emotion. Flusk finally teleported all of the group out of the castle, including Heartstrings, Gem Paws and the children.

Solar Dots could only scream in anger as he teleported out of his castle in pure rage to try and find the group.

“You won’t get away with this!”