Animus (The Midnight Series)

Chapter 8: The Storm Draws In

I

Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie rode to Twilight's house using Applejack's truck. Although Rarity originally refused to use it, it was the only vehicle still running at the time. Pinkie drove, but she was having trouble navigating through the storm. Countless raindrops poured down, there were beams of light coming from the darkened clouds.

"Are you sure you're able to drive through this?" Rarity asked. "It seems almost impossible to drive in this weather!"

"I'm fine!" Pinkie enlightened, as she shifted it into gear.

Rainbow Dash was clenching her fists, which Rarity saw, sitting next to her.

"Is... Fluttershy okay?" Rarity asked.

"No... they have her, and they will pay for what they did!" Rainbow Dash said, with a deep and focused whisper. Rarity saw that she was worried. She held her hand, trying to calm her down before they had to face the Dazzlings once again. Rainbow Dash firmly held Rarity's hand. She sighed, and felt like she was ready for what comes next.

"Oh damn!!!" Pinkie yelled, as she drove into someone on the road. The girls were stunned from their seat, as they heard the thumping from the front of the truck, and the body being rolled on the roof. Pinkie immediately stomped on the brakes. The person rolled a few yards in back of them. "Whoops... heh..." Pinkie chuckled.

"Pinkie, what they hell was that?!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Are you crazy?!!"

"Well, it was kind of her fault?!" Pinkie said.

"What are you talking about?!" Rarity added. "You killed someone!!!"

"Relax, it was Adagio!" Pinkie said.

"That's not the point Pinkie!!!" Rarity continued.

"She's getting up, and she looks pissed!" Pinkie informed, as she glanced at the rear view mirror.

"Well duh!!!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "You just ran her over!!!"

"Get out!!!" Pinkie yelled. "GET OUT NOW!!!" Pinkie jumped out quickly while Rainbow Dash carried Rarity out, and the truck was pushed away by a wave of magic, and was rolled into the street. Rainbow Dash kneeled in front of Rarity, which was a little comfortable for the both of them, so she fell to lay beside her. Pinkie was on the other side of the road, she was standing, not allowing her dress to be soaked.

"Pinkie, I'm going to kill you, after we get through this!" Rarity said, while being drenched in water from laying on the soaked grass. She was shocked to see her girlfriend's favorite truck gone in seconds.

"Not if I can help it!!!" Adagio yelled from afar, enraged, and bruised from the impact of the truck.

II

The girls ran to Twilight's house, and Sonata and Aria were both fighting off Twilight. Twilight was using her magic to stop them from attacking, but she struggled to stay focused.

"Damn it!" Aria said. "I knew I forgot something!"

"Same!" Sonata said.

"Girls, help!" Twilight said, as she dropped her hands. Rainbow Dash kicked Sonata, as she was the one who attacked Fluttershy. Rarity used a shield to push away Aria to the wall. Pinkie went over to hug Twilight. "Pinkie, now's not the time!"

"But, Twilight..." Pinkie said. Then came Adagio, she bust down the door, and carried the other two with her outside. They gathered their strength by focusing their power.

"What's the plan Twilight?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Okay..." Twilight said, as she sighed. "Pinkie I need you to distract them!"

"You've got it!" Pinkie said.

"Rainbow Dash, I need you to surround them by running around in circles!" Twilight commanded.

"Okay?! That's doable..." Rainbow Dash said, as she was unsure of what she was actually doing.

"Rarity. Can you cast a dome, like you have before?!" Twilight asked.

"What?!" Rarity questioned. "I can't do that! What do you mean like before?!"

"Okay, look, just make sure they don't leave the field!" Twilight said.

"Very well then..." Rarity said.

"One more thing, everyone, after about thirty seconds. I need you all to quickly get out of here as fast as you can. By our luck, we might just miss the blast." Twilight said.

"Wha-what do you mean?!" Rarity asked, as she was reminded of her dream.

"Listen, I don't have much time to give every detail, but I'll give the signal, then make a break for it!" Twilight requested. "Got it?!"

Everyone nodded.

"Go!" Twilight yelled. The girls dispersed to different areas. The Dazzlings came up, in their final forms. Tall, serpent-like creatures, each of them a specific color, Adagio of course in the middle, who shine was gold. Sonata was a bright blue, and Aria was purple. They each had large tails which hung down to the ground. Pinkie came to them, and they each were eager to take her energy. Pinkie channeled her power from her element crystal. She gained her form, pony ears, her hair lengthened, her symbol on her cheek, and with her power was able to conjure up many party favors for her liking. Ready to fight for her friends.

"Let's party!" Pinkie announced. The Dazzlings came over to her. Rainbow Dash then began to run toward their general area, she circulated around them. Whenever one of the sirens looked, Pinkie was there to pop in right in front of them. Rarity focused, but could not make a large enough shield to cover the perimeter, but she was able to contain them by blocking their next move. Twilight watched as it was going according to plan, they just needed to stay long enough for the finishing move.

Pinkie was grabbed by one of them, and was thrown around. She got back up, and used her power to generate party cannons to attack. She blinded them from the confetti and their ears rang from the sound, the closer she came the worse they all felt. Adagio jumped out, and clawed at her. Pinkie surprised her with a gift of a wrapped present, and a boxing glove would pop out like a jack-in-the-box and punch her. The others had a gift that exploded in their face. They all got pissed off, and came to her all at once. They picked her up and each took a turn stabbing her with their claws, biting her with their jaws, and slap her with their long tails, in which threw Pinkie across the field.

"Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash yelled.

"Don't lose your position!!!" Twilight yelled. Rainbow Dash looked, grunted, and continued to run the same way she started.

Rarity kept her shield open, even from watching Pinkie being tormented in front of her. Pinkie kept fighting, and was thrown around enough times to cause her to be too tired to get back up.

The last of Pinkie's power was using a bunch of helium-filled balloons to distract them. Adagio bit into one, and her voice became high pitched, which made Aria and Sonata start laughing. Adagio got mad at them, but they couldn't help it. Pinkie used the rest to make them all ingest the helium. They all kept laughing and could not stop. Pinkie's last power was to make enemies laugh so hard they can't stop. The element of laughter. Sadly, Pinkie fell, and was too tired to carry on.

"Now!" Twilight yelled. Rainbow Dash quickly ran to pick Pinkie up from the ground. The Dazzlings felt the mist swarm around them, as Rarity released the shield, and left the Dazzlings alone in the field. They stood, unsure of what was going on. Twilight was standing there staring right at them. "Pika Pika... bitch!"

III

The skies opened up, in the sky, in a single instance, released a streak of light which struck down right at the Dazzlings. The blast of the light that struck, engulfed the field. The sound was intensively loud, which made the ground shake. The Dazzlings screamed, the pain of them being electrocuted, they all felt the flames running through their veins. It made the lockets spark, and explode, in which came for everyone. Twilight stood there, closed her eyes, awaiting for it to come.