Verve

When Tempest came to, she was laying against a big, fluffy pillow. Her eyes refocusing on the webs above, the panic eased in her chest. Pumpkin sat across her lap, the Unicorn’s ocean green eyes meeting her emerald irises.

“It worked! O-Oh Gosh, you’re alright!” Pumpkin whimpered, locking lips with the still recovering Tempest. The Unicorn’s chest moving steadily now, the soft bundle she was propped up on croaked.

“Thank the Gods, she breathes. I don’t think I could take another one on my own.” Celestia’s voice was ragged and dry, and with time - Tempest could blink her much-too-sandy eyes. A cough soon followed, as her legs began to stir.

“How long?” she eventually managed, after a few tense minutes of her limp body coming to life.

“Fifteen minutes.” Pumpkin frowned, running her hoof over her cheek - down to her chest. “You should be up fully in three. Y-You… Tempest, you did amazing, facing your fears like that. I gave you a little something i-in the antidote, to help with the nerves, too.”

“Please. Never. Ever. Remind me of this day, ever again,” the recovering mare eventually replied to Pumpkin, who held on tight.

The Solar Witch traced a hoof over the plugged fang marks in Tempest’s neck, frowning. “You’re lucky… another inch or two, and it would have hit an artery. Y-You would have froze up before I did. Thankfully, I know how to make a fast acting potion, a-and my anxiety about the littlest things… well, it paid off.”

With Tempest slowly coming back to life, Pumpkin stood up - bringing Sun Song’s sheath to the red maned Princess.

“I’m sorry, P-Princess,” she whimpered, wracked with fear over what she’s done. “I wanted to tell you sooner, but Vee commanded that I keep quiet. I’ve b-been using it as a um… source of magic, when Vee tells me to.”

Celestia took the blade by her side in her magical grasp, stuffing it into the red and gold sheath. It clicked inside, the Princess sighing. Hanging her head low, she spoke. “The fact that you didn’t give it to me earlier, may have very well saved our lives. Because the first thing I would have done is give it to Arin. Vee was smart enough to make you hold on to it, so that wouldn’t happen. My only question is… how? I saw Nightmare Moon impale Vapor Cloud myself. By all accounts, this sword should be a husk of its former glory, yet here it shines.”

“S-She um… Sorry.” The pony breathed in deep, settling her nerves and orchestrating her thoughts. “She had me place a cursed amulet around Vapor Cloud’s neck. He’s basically petrified, until somepony can fix him up.”

The Princess lifted the blade once more, blood stained hoof fondling the gem within. “I’m surprised your Sister had the foresight for that, as well.”

Pumpkin nodded, Tempest making it to her hooves with help from her little marefriend. Still wobbly, but alive - she kicked her legs to let the antidote flow through her. Finally, her eyes settled on the rough looking Princess.

Celestia was in bad shape, but Pumpkin had tended to her wounds while she was unconscious. Swathes of silken strands wrapped around her bloody chest, clogging the wound and prevented more blood loss. Several more vials lay scattered around Celestia’s side, undoubtedly a concoction to help with healing fed to the injured mare.

“Where’s Arin? And Vee?” Tempest eventually managed despite a bubbling rage inside of her, the Princess hanging her pink mane to the floor.

“They’re… still out there. Somewhere in the webs,” Pumpkin said in place of Tia. “We… I don’t think we c-can help… Not like this.”

Pumpkin too, lost her nerve. Her sister was out there somewhere, bound up in a thousand layers of silk and likely suspended from a tree. She gave a choking sob, the light of hope fading in her chest.

Tempest didn’t speak. She only snatched Sun Song from Celestia’s side in her muzzle. Instantly, heat poured from the hilt - forcing her to drop the sturdy weapon to the floor.

“Tempest, what are you-”

“I’m going alone to find them. I’m sorry Pumpkin, but you need to stay by Celestia’s side and tend to her wounds.” She attempted to heave the blade up in her muzzle, glowering as it once again scorched her lips. “What?...”

“You’re not my Knight, nor fully Solar aligned like Pumpkin is. The blade will burn you, if you try to take it,” Celestia offered, her eyes heavy with worry for the wine-colored mare.

“Knight me,” Tempest spat, kicking the blade to Celestia’s chest. The Princess winced as the blunt guard struck her wound, but stifled the pain to speak. Even if the fresh agony did elevate her blood pressure, ten fold.

“You’re joking,” the Princess flatlined, her half drawn magenta eyes taking in the chipped-horn Unicorn. “Not more than three years ago, you imprisoned me in stone. Now you think I’ll trust a mighty, magical, potent blade like Sun Song into your care? And you thought I was insane! You can’t even face one spider, much less a thousand! Giving you Sun Song would be giving it away to the creepy crawlies in their webs. I think Pumpkin is a better fit than you.”

The Princess leaned down to the little mare, bowing her head. “No offense Pumpkin.”

“N-None um… taken,” the little witch said in reply. Ouch?

“Alright, then you take Sun Song, and cut through the tides of spiders to save your lover, and I’ll crush any spiders that cross me beneath my hooves.” Tempest glared, unyielding. “I won’t let Vee die on me. She saved my life. The least I could do is repay the favor. You’re really brave to sit here and let Arin die, Princess.”

A twinkle in Tempest’s eyes caught Celestia by surprise, as the Solar Princess struggled to her hooves. “Very well then. If you want to be my Knight, and you think you can do better than me against the arachnids… so be it.”

Hefting the sword in her magical grip, she unsheathed the gleaming gold blade. “You’ll have to excuse me if I’m a bit short on the proper ceremony, but the magic is all the same. The flair is just words to keep the nobles happy, and strengthen our bond. Ahem…”

“Tempest Shadow, do you swear yourself upon my service and care, to defend me and my lands until a time where my honor is no longer just?... Or… something?” Tia glared at the defiant mare beneath her, who rolled her eyes and nodded.

“Cut the tuft and give me the blessing, Princess. I won’t stand idly by while my friends die around me.” Tempest stuck out her hoof, much to the annoyance of Celestia. Yes, lives were at stake. But a proper bonding ceremony was much more effective than a simple pat on the back. Literally. Something about the words made the magic stronger.

“I dub thee, Tempest Shadow - or Fizzlepop Berrytwist, my Knight. Take this blade to defend yourself and my honor.” She touched the golden fuller to either side of Tempest’s shoulders, before quickly sheathing the blade and ramming the set into her new Knight’s chest. A petty form of revenge, as the finely crafted weapon clattered against her Winter Iron Armor.

“Keep in mind that this blade is meant to represent the bond between a Princess, and her Knight. You will return it, once we free Arin. With the blade intact. Understood?”

“I’ll do what I must. But I’ll try, ‘Princess’.”

Pumpkin sighed, readjusting her newly infused hat. “Can’t you two get along for five minutes?...”

Thank the Stars above that Celestia’s attention to direction was immaculate; simply put, she knew where both East and West were, at any given time. Being bound to the Sun had its perks. So while she was injured and weak, even with Pumpkin’s medicinal abilities - she was the perfect leader for this cause. Tempest wasn’t the best with a sword, but it hardly mattered. She was well trained in martial arts, and the blade soon became an extension of her body. Especially as something vile churned in her stomach, energy coursing through her veins.

And what she lacked in slashing, she made up for in spinning, powerful, jarring kicks that sent spiders reeling through their webbing. She wasn’t just mad, she was berserk. Celestia had trouble keeping up with her pace, Pumpkin galloping by the Princess’s side to make sure she didn’t collapse.

“Here!” Tempest called, spinning into a clearing - the corpses of cleaved spiders from before lined the ground. She slung the blade over her shoulder like a bastard sword, her nostrils flaring with rage. While Celestia was amazing with direction, Tempest was the perfect tracker - having hunted Twilight and her friends across the world, down to the very southern shores and into Hippogriff Territory.

Her eyes turned to the floor, scanning for tracks.

“Vee was dragged this way! Arin was caught on this web!” Celestia confirmed, saving the enraged Unicorn precious valuable time in identifying the battle’s outcome. The Princess retrieved her abandoned staff with a shake at the thick webs, clutching it under her webbed wing. The thin cloth plate was a bit too hard to retrieve, without wasting precious time.

“Vee first, Arin second - he’s tough. Move!” Tempest pointed for a cut in the clearing, the giant, house sized spider looming above their intended path forward. But the Unicorn didn’t care anymore. Her fear was gone, and she would be damned if a life was lost here.

Galloping full force at the massive terror clinging to its web, she sprung into the air with practiced grace - slinging the blade over her shoulder into a deadly, satisfying arc.

“What…?” Celestia gawked, as Tempest cleaved Sun Song into the screeching spider; a dozen more arachnids falling from the sky at the call of their matriarch. “What’s gotten into her?”

“I… may have slipped Zerker Petals into her antidote. To um… help her get over her fear, through rage.”

“RIP AND TEAR, UNTIL IT IS DONE!” Tempest screamed, lightning arcing from her horn in a cascading array. She swung by the blade embedded in the spider’s abdomen, the chitin cracking under the heat pouring from Sun Song. Like a hot knife through butter, she slid to the floor, cleaving the massive spider in half.

Pumpkin had never seen spiders cower before, as the cackling bolts of chaotic energy from her horn spiraled into coalescing novas of wild currents; the Unicorn’s eyes nearly ran blood red, Sun Song sizzling against ichor on her armor from the wild, uncontained strikes.

“YOU! YOU ARE HUGE! THAT MEANS YOU HAVE HUGE GUTS!” She pointed to the next largest spider in the crowd, which took a spindly step back. Around her, the pumping churn of the Matriarch’s insides forced a geyser of ichor to rain into the webbing around. A shower of arthropod gore spewed around her in a green mist.

“Does that work in the bedroom, too, or?...” Celestia questioned once the initial shock left her.

“F-For um... Domestic violence? Yes,” Pumpkin confirmed, as Tempest swung Sun Song with such fury that Celestia was afraid the blade would shatter.

“And this is… normal?” the Princess asked, as she ducked out of the way of a massive, flying spider corpse. It crashed into the distant webbing, ramming into a tree with enough strength that the gathered spiders above fled.

“Well, um… N-No. I uh… didn’t know how much to put in. So I may have put in ten petals. My entire stock.” Pumpkin stepped out of the way as a massive arachnid ran for the hills; Tempest had found a nice, heavy rock, and with a jump and twisting buck - shot it so hard through the air that the little orange mare nearly lost her hat. The spider was absolutely obliterated, nothing but its legs surviving the explosive onslaught.

“By my Sun…” Celestia suddenly grew worried that they’d run out of spiders for the slaughter.

And not more than half an hour ago, she struggled to take down one spider. “How rare are Zerker Petals?”

“Er…” Pumpkin clopped her hooves together, thinking. “...I don’t know. I’ve only ever found one flower, four years ago - and Vee told me to hold onto them in case of an emergency.”

The rest of the gathered arachnids stampeded past them in a blaze; no, literally, a blaze. Several were on fire, as Tempest charged through a massive web to her left unimpeded in… whatever direction she believed Vee was in.

“Come on! We’re going to lose her!” Celestia called, picking up the pace to a struggling gallop. The duo made their way after her, winding down a tunnel of webs, the faint traces of purple feathers now a blessing rather than a curse. They soon found Tempest, growling like a dog at no less than twenty giant spiders. The heavy stench of their dead clinging to her coat and armor, the many eyes focused on her growing weary. There, resting in the pile of horrifying arthropods was a single cocoon. A purple wing flapping weakly in the air from it, Vee undoubtedly trying to preen even in her prison.

The spiders seemed jittery, their legs clicking against their webs. The Purple’s prison had dozens of small holes across its surface… have they been drinking her blood for caffeine?

Actually, that wouldn’t shock anypony. Vee was, essentially, sixty percent coffee, forty percent feathers, and one hundred percent sass. Regardless, that was disgusting. And likely fatal if left untreated.

The much too hyper spiders, perhaps expecting more caffeine laced blood - darted for the steaming Tempest regardless of the overwhelming danger. She wasn’t trapped in here with the spiders, the spiders - unbeknownst to them at the moment - were trapped in this silky prison with her.

The leader of the arachnids lunged with intensity, seeking to strike fangs into the hate-fueled mare. Before it could even entertain the thought of landing this blow, Tempest twisted into a fiery kick - the twitching creature, regardless of its iron-hard chitin, had its entire face crushed into tiny, gooey fragments - its legs kicking at the air as it rolled back into a nearby bush

With the current onslaught distracting the hungry, caffeine infused creatures, Celestia quickly - and quietly - made her way towards the wiggling pod; slicing cleanly through the silken wire above. With a few impartial slashes with the curved blade of her stave, Vee flopped to the floor with a groan.

“Did anypony catch the license plate on that carriage?” she huffed, as Pumpkin shot forward to tend to her.

“T-Thank the Stars, Vee! You’re alright!” Pumpkin cried, hugging on to her Big Sis tightly. The pegasus was pale and tired from the blood loss, but alive.

“Of course I’m alright! I’m right hooved - I use my right hoof for counting bits, stirring coffee…” She mumbled, as Pumpkin grabbed Vee's bag. Shuffling through the assorted baubles and trinkets she dumped inside, she plucked a small, crimson vial from within.

Uncorking it, and pulling a vial of Antitoxin just to be safe, she went to tip both into Vee’s muzzle.

“Is that coffee? Buck, I’d love some coffee right now.” Vee blinked dimly, the little mare rolling her eyes.

“Yes, it’s coffee. Drink up, it’s uh… a really expensive latte.”

“D’ohoho! Whoever gave it to you, that’s their loss, Small-fry!” she chirped, gulping down the twin potions. Smacking her lips, she frowned. “...That was terrible coffee. It tasted like Spiders and expired health potion.”

“Enough foaling around, you two - Vee, can you stand?” Celestia clutched the bardiche tightly, turning to face the swarm around them. For the most part, Tempest had it under control - any webs that launched at her were seared away from the burning heat of Sun Song, or shocked into ash from her cracked horn. The quickly growing pile of corpses around her did little dissuade the skittering arachnids.

“Stand? On my hooves? Perhaps!” Vee wiggled her punctured legs up, until she was bumbling around her shaky ankles. “Oho! Why yes, I can!”

“Good! Tempest can hold them off, but I don’t know how long these ‘Zerker Petals’ will last.”

“Hmhm! Well, three minutes for every petal, but more than three petals at once is bad news for the feathers. Or should I say muscles? Well, feather muscles. Yes, that.” Vee, almost drunk from the blood loss or… something, stumbled to her left, pointing a hoof at Celestia. “Don’t take the pills with alcohol, it’s a suppository Miss Two-Shoes. You’ll get sleepy if you do. Hmhmhm!”

“Pumpkin, please tell me this is normal.” Celestia ducked out of the way, just as a cleaved spider leg flung over the duo’s heads.

The little mare looked at the other vial from Vee’s belongings, frowning. “Well, I gave her a health potion that expired a hundred years ago. So… p-probably?”

When Celestia’s eyes stared through her, she hid the vial behind her back with an innocent smile. Laughing nervously. “It’s um… s-still good!”

“I don’t even have time to be upset - Vee, you’re riding on my back.” Celestia scooped her up with her ruby magic, placing the potion-drunk pegasus between her webbed white wings.

“Wee! Princess back ride, d’ohoho!” Vee spun her hoof in a circle in a lazy cheer, Pumpkin collecting her entangled lance to stuff quickly into her orange hat.

“Tempest! To Arin! Move!” Celestia called, galloping around the spider corpses. The enraged mare sunk her broken horn into the abdomen of another beast, with a cackling spark and kicking of its twitching legs - it exploded in a gory rush of ichor and chitin.

“WHO’S NEXT?!” She screamed, “YOU?” Tempest stepped towards the nearest spider, who turned tail and danced its thin, hairy legs into a knot of webs - vanishing into the silky bundle and into a bush-tunnel. The spiders, as unintelligent as they were, had the sense to abandon the fight and run.

Panting, Tempest galloped up to - and in front of Celestia, on three hooves. As one leg slung the burning, sizzling tang of the sword against her shoulder’s armor. Horn cackling with uncontrolled power, the once practiced mare lost all rhythm to her motions and blindly charged.

Tempest cut a corner tight, darting down a more web heavy path in a frenzy. A clean hole from where Arin’s body had been dragged was the only clue to his location, and like a hound on a hunt - she barreled along the forest path with abandon.

“She’s going to kill herself!” Celestia managed to pant, though the response from Pumpkin was more worrying.

“No, s-she’s going to kill us! Look up! Fire, fire!” Pumpkin squeaked by the galloping Princess’s side.

Above them, the flames of burnt web began to tickle the light-starved trees; black vines clenched tight to their hosts in the rousing heat. The spiders Tempest lit up must have darted for the safety of their nests - spreading the blaze across the forest canopy. Right now, it was nothing more than small, tickling flames - but they spread fast along the thin strands. Where more gossamer accumulated, the bigger and brighter the burn - dead leaves already feeding the flames as trees soon began to light, and flaming holes in the dim light formed.

Crashing through the clearing led to a miraculous sight. Arin had already partially freed himself from the webs, regardless of the bite marks traced along his form - and fought alongside Tempest. He had nothing more than a dagger, as his bow was glued to his body - but it was more than enough. He, too, looked fueled by something - though not to the intensity of Tempest.

“Why isn’t he paralyzed?” Celestia asked, swinging her stave to end an intruding spider. It cleaved firmly through an armored leg, the creature stumbling back into the blazing sword in Tempest’s hooves.

“I-I don’t know! The spider venom works differently in Seraphs, I guess?!” Pumpkin eeped, as a flame-covered branch fell from the roof - just narrowly missing her.

“Tia!” He panted, darting for a hole in the horde, scarred and marred in webs and ichor. Seizing her in a tight hug, the Princess nearly yelped when he lifted her up. “By the Feathers, you’re alright! I didn’t know if you escaped!”

“Of course I’m fine - are you fine? Are you sick, or?-” she asked, her webbed wing squeezing tight onto the seraph.

“I’m great, no - I’m fantastic! I feel like I could take on an army! Haha, no! I could wrestle Leotoln with one arm tied behind my back!”

He turned to his side - vomiting up his breakfast in a shuddering heave. And just like that, wild-eyed and unbothered, he spun back to face her.

“See? Perfectly fine!” He rejoined Tempest, much to the shock of the two mares. Vee, bubbly as ever, raised a hoof to speak.

“I like that minotaur-thing! He’s cool! He should party at my shop some time! D’ohoho!”

“Pumpkin, we are going to die here if you don’t have a new trick in that hat of yours.” Celestia eventually turned back to the little mare, worry etched into her features. “Tempest is in a blood lust, the venom put Arin in some kind of weird… high, Vee is sick-”

“Potion drunk! Woo~” Vee flapped her free wing, the Princess’s hoof preventing her from falling to the webbed floor below.

“Whatever that is! Oh! And we’re caught in a quickly spreading wildfire in a massive, spider infested forest. Please, please give me good news. Hope. Something!”

Pumpkin’s eyes darted around the clearing, gulping.

“Well, I-I don’t have good news, but I have news. Look.” Her little cream colored hoof shot to the approaching Lunar Halo to the East, snow melting over the raging fire that billowed behind them.

Celestia looked at all of this - the spiders, the webbing, the flames rising around them - and stood dumbstruck. What was there left to do? The webs were nearly as thick as the heavy brush around them, she couldn’t fly like this - not without abandoning her friends, after spending valuable time burning the webbing on her wing out with either fire, or magic.

“I have an idea!” Celestia darted towards the duo, Tempest having pinned a spider to beat it down with the flat part of Sun Song.

“Tempest! As your Princess and Charge, I command you - cut a path through the webbing in that direction, and lead us out!” Celestia stood proudly, her horn flashing to seep Solar magic into the blade of the weapon.

Tempest froze in her frenzy, bloodshot eyes honing in on the Princess.

“YOU DON’T COMMAND ME!” she roared, smashing the tip of the sword into the Spider’s torso. It shuddered and heaved, dying on the spot.

Perhaps skipping the flair and build up of the Knighting ceremony was a terrible, horrible idea. With a rushed ceremony, Tempest could use the blade - but the Princess’s control was at risk of failing; just as it did now.

Pumpkin dug frantically through her hat, as the trees above became massive flares of heat and smoke. She whipped one of the antidote vials out - calling to Celestia before chucking it in her general direction.

“For Arin!” she yelped. The Princess snatched the bottle in her magic, uncorking it and wrangling the Seraph into her hooves with a bolt of ruby power

“Arin, drink this. Now,” she demanded, raising the green liquid up.

“Does it have cinnamon in it?” He blinked dumbly, the venom doing strange things to the Seraph. He heaved and panted, shaking in the webs.

“What? Why would… no, it doesn’t have cinnamon. Now drink!”

“Pfft! Yes it does! Snooty mc Snootskabob is a liar~” Vee bumbled, drooling down Celestia’s back.

“Good! I love cinnamon. I think.” Arin snatched the vial with a smile, gulping down the chunky green goo. Celestia had to stop him from chewing the glass, yanking it from his teeth in her magic.

“Haha, that tasted horrible. Do you have any more?” Arin grinned, slime coating his teeth. Celestia rolled her eyes, groaning.

“Follow behind me and don’t get lost. Pumpkin! Any ideas?”

Having shuffled through her potion supplies she eventually managed to rip a long leather strap from the interior of her hat; the tie she used to keep her books together. It had snapped at one end at some point, but it would have to do.

“C-Celestia! I have an idea! Throw me at Tempest!” Pumpkin wrapped the leather tight around her hoof, just barely managing to snatch her hat as Celestia’s magic ripped her from the floor. A moment later, a blazing tree fell where she once sat.

Pumpkin went soaring through the air, Celestia’s toss a little inaccurate - but it didn’t matter. Tempest saw the little mare she cared for bounce against the back of a cowaring spider, and jumped to catch her - slinging her over her armored back.

This was just what Pumpkin needed. In the confusion, she managed to flick the leather strap around Tempest’s waist - tying it tight around them both, keeping her glued to the battle-hardened Unicorn.

“Tempest, we need to g-go! Please - get us out of here!” She hugged tight around the Unicorn’s neck, crying out. Tempest knickered and neighed - charging blindly - and thankfully - west, at the point of Pumpkin’s hoof.