Chapters “Well, we have to do something!”
An explosion sounded in the distance, only serving to underline the importance of that line.
“What can we possibly do!?” Twilight cried, shaking as she stared up at her friend.
“I dunno, can’t you look in one of your dumb books and find an answer or something!?” Rainbow Dash huffed. She pointed a hoof at the window to their right. “It’s a friggin’ war zone out there! We can’t just leave Ponyville hanging!”
Twilight grit her teeth, shaking her head as tears pricked the corners of her eyes. “I already told you, this kind’ve thing has never happened before! Of course there’s no information on what to do in a situation like this!”
Another explosion shook the library, causing Fluttershy to whimper as she huddled up to Applejack, who was watching the argument go down with unease.
“Then what are we supposed to do?” Rainbow Dash asked, her wings beating sporadically to keep her in the air.
“We stay here and wait for the princesses to contact us, that’s what Celestia told us to do,” Twilight let out a soft sob before she plopped down on the wooden floor and shut her eyes tight.
“I know you want to help, Rainbow, I do too! But you must understand that this is bigger than anything else we’ve dealt with in the past,” Twilight levitated a tissue over to herself, and used it to blow her nose.
There was silence, not in general considering the distant screams and explosions outside, but there was silence between friends. Rainbow Dash looked at Fluttershy and Applejack, hoping for one of them to back her up. But after a moment of Applejack looking at her solemnly, Dash cursed and turned away.
“We’re the elements of harmony, for Celestia’s sake!” she hissed, “It’s our duty to help ponies! We’re supposed to be out there saving the day!”
Twilight swallowed, her tears finally coming to a stop. “I know,” she whispered. “But we won't be able to help anypony if we get ourselves incinerated by that thing .”
Rainbow Dash landed on her rump, groaning as she faced the window. Twilight stared at her back, at the large gash in between her wings, oh how brave Dash was to still want to fight after almost losing them.
Barely a heartbeat into the silence, a terrible scream echoed through the library.
Twilight gasped and shot to her hooves, Rainbow Dash was already in the air again, and Fluttershy and Applejack stared at the window in horror.
“That was Rarity!” Dash shrieked, before she burst out of the library with one mighty flap.
“Rainbow Dash NO!” Twilight called, but she stopped just in front of the door. She twirled around to see her other two friends approaching.
“Should we go after her?” Applejack asked, worry dripping from her voice.
Twilight looked back outside, then at Applejack, then back outside. She cried out for Rainbow Dash again as she bolted out of the library and after her friend, Applejack and Fluttershy followed soon after.
Rarity screamed again, she skidded to a stop as she realized she’d run into a dead end. She turned around and gritted her teeth, levitating several pieces of debris and launching them at the demon in the sky.
It dodged the first two, but the third piece hit it in the chest and caused it to flinch back. It snarled in rage and glared down at her, baring its fangs as its leathery wings flapped faster.
With a spark of crimson magic, it levitated the six elements of harmony, now blackened and twisted, they formed a circle around it and began to glow with dark magic.
Rarity screamed again, desperately looking for something else to grab. But her magic wasn’t strong enough to lift the remaining debris around her, and so she was forced to watch as a black rainbow shot from the six elements and right at her.
However, before the corrupted rainbow could consume her, Rarity felt strong hooves around her barrel as she was yanked out of the way and into the red sky.
“I gotcha Rarity!” Rainbow Dash said, she twirled around and zoomed past the demon, barely missing another blast of dark magic as it screamed in rage.
“Rainbow Dash! You’re safe, oh thank Celestia!” Rarity nuzzled her friend, then she braced herself as the two landed in the center of town.
Ponyville was a wreck, there were fires spreading rapidly and many of its buildings had collapsed. Ponies were running in all directions and screaming, some were trying to find shelter, but most were just panicking in a herd mentality.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight yelled, she skidded to a stop and smiled brightly as she saw Rarity. “Come on you two, we need to get back to the library!”
“I certainly cannot object to that!” Rarity said as she bolted past Twilight.
Rainbow Dash followed behind and soon the three were galloping back the way they came.
Twilight saw Applejack and Fluttershy in the distance. “Girls, go back! We’ve got her!”
But before Either of the two could respond, a massive beam of magic hit the ground in an explosion and sent all five ponies flying back.
Twilight shook her head, she groaned, then she gasped and looked up. Luckily everypony was okay, she could see Applejack helping Fluttershy up, and looking behind her she saw Dash doing the same for Rarity.
Unluckily, they five friends heard a dark laughter echo across the sky. Looking up, the black alicorn was soaring just above them, the corrupted elements already forming a circle around him.
“Give up,” he said in the voice of a thousand ponies at once. “I have your elements of harmony, you’re defenseless to stop me.”
The corrupt elements crackled to life once more, Twilight shot to her hooves and lit her horn. She cast a shield spell around herself, then she shot a glare at each of her friends.
“Go! Run, now! I can fight for myself!” she commanded.
“We’re not leaving you!” Applejack said as she galloped up to Twilight, skidding to a stop just behind her.
“As scary as it is, we’re in this together!” Fluttershy squeaked, stopping just beside Applejack.
“Right!” Rainbow Dash and Rarity agreed as they two stood behind Twilight.
Tears streaked down Twilight’s cheek as she watched Rarity ignite her horn, Applejack dig at the ground, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy hover. She shot a glare back at the demon, just as the black rainbow came surging towards her.
She opened her mouth in a primal yell as her horn glowed with white hot magic, her voice drowned out by the roaring of thousands of screams that suddenly came crashing all around her.
Kai Kitsune was sitting on a log in the woods, a little way away from the rebel camp. It had been a few days since he’d teleported the whole group there, and now he was fully healed. He’d been forced to eat by Kiki, which he hated, but it did feel nice to actually be able to stand without shaking. Not that he’d let anyone see him shaking before, of course.
Currently they were trying to get information out of Andre, whom Kai was glad to have learned was not being treated terribly. Kai wanted to untie his brother from that pole, but he wasn’t really allowed to get close enough to Andre to even hold a conversation.
So, Kai sat here, away from the camp and deep in thought.
“Hey Kai!”
Until his thoughts were interrupted by a shrill voice. The black fox cringed and tried to ignore the figure approaching him from behind.
“How’re you feeling?” Kiki asked as she plopped herself onto the log, scooching up next to him.
Kai exhaled. “I am doing fine, truthfully.”
“That’s great!” she beamed at him, her red fur brushing against his side.
Seconds ticked by as the two sat in an awkward silence, until Kai finally spoke.
“Do you need something, Miss Kiki?” he asked, scooching away from her.
“I wanted to ask you about that awesome teleport you did, y’know, a few days ago when you teleported us outside of the castle?”
“Ah yes, that ‘awesome’ teleport that knocked me unconscious,” Kai stared emotionlessly at the grass. “What about it?”
“I wanna know, how far can you teleport?” Kiki’s tail began wagging behind her. “Cus that was pretty far, but I thought about it, and I realized you were SUPER weak when you did that! Which means I bet you can teleport EVEN FARTHER while you’re healthy!” she raised her arms with that final outburst, the tip of her tail whipping his back lightly.
Kai cringed. “Truthfully, I can only teleport as far as a mile away, and only a dozen times in a row before I start skipping.”
“Sooo… Eleven miles?” Kiki tilted her head.
“Correct.”
Kiki sucked in a huge breath, then exhaled: “THAT’S SO COOL!”
Kai rolled his eyes and went back to softly glaring at the ground. “Is that all?” he wanted to remain polite, he truly did.
“Can you show me?” Kiki asked.
“Show you what?”
“Can you show me how far you can teleport?”
“No.”
“Aw man!” Kiki pouted. It didn’t last long, though, and soon enough she excitedly asked: “Have you ever tried teleporting further?”
Kai’s fur bristled. “I have not, for fear of teleporting out of orbit.”
“You can accidently teleport into space?” Kiki’s eyes were sparkling as she stared at him, unblinking.
“It is a possibility, correct.”
“But I thought you weren’t afraid of anything!”
Kai wanted to inform the annoying brat that he was, in fact, afraid of many things. Like: losing his brother, or losing Mark and Louie, or being left unconscious near Kiki-- Though unfortunately that last thing had already happened, which made Kai shiver whenever he thought about it.
“Can you show me, PLEEEAASSEE??” Kiki placed her hands on Kai’s shoulders and started shaking him.
“Show you what?” Kai barked.
“Show me how far you can teleport, but like, teleport farther than you ever have before!” she started shaking him faster.
“I’ll leave you alone for a whole week, I promise!” Kiki whined.
Kai jerked away from Kiki, standing and dusting himself off. “Two weeks,” was all he said, somehow remaining calm after she practically assaulted him.
“Deal!” Kiki cheered.
Kai took a deep breath, he turned away from Kiki and stared longingly at the horizon. The sun was slowly setting, though it hadn’t dipped past the earth yet. Kai readied himself.
He clenched his fist, then activated his power, the blue electricity flicked around him as he clenched his teeth. He aimed for around fifteen miles, deciding that was neither too far away nor too close. And then, with a zap and blink, Kai Kitsune was gone in a flash.
“I’m not exactly sure what you want me to do, I’m not familiar with this world and I need to get home soon,” Kai said as he and the five ponies entered Twilight’s library.
“Whatever happened back there, your arrival in Equestria somehow vanquished that demon! But I doubt it’s dead, because-”
“TWILIGHT!” a high-pitched voice shouted, just before Twilight was knocked to the ground in a viscous hug.
“P-Pinkie Pie!?” Twilight sputtered, struggling for breath as Pinkie squeezed the life out of her.
“Twilight!” Spike cried, he hopped up from where he was seated and rushed over to join Pinkie in the embrace.
“Oh, thank Celestia, I’m so glad you two are safe!” Twilight said as she finally pulled herself free, a smile tugging at her lips even as she panted.
“Where were ya’ll?” Applejack asked, examining Spike for injuries.
“We were hiding in Sugarcube Corner!” Spike said, still hugging Twilight’s foreleg.
“But when we saw that massive explosion and the demon went flying away, we rushed here to see if you girls were alright!” Pinkie said, throwing her hooves up in the air from where she sat.
As the friends were reunited, Kai took a seat in the main room of the library. His golden eyes scanned the bookshelves around him, a small smile forming on his muzzle as he admired the collection. It had been a very long time since he'd been in a library. He'd wished he could've joined his friends in the royal library back at the castle, but he'd had business with Bingo. And he'd needed to visit the laboratory.
And then Mimi had tried to murder him.
The smile fell and Kai's face went back to its natural emotionless expression. He didn't blame her, not really. He was an awfully suspicious guy; however, he now felt the need to keep an eye on Mimi, less she does something else to compromise their mission.
His ears perked as the commotion at the entrance stopped. Then, before he could even register the movement, a pink missile blurred across the room and slammed into him.
Pinkie Pie knocked Kai out of his seat and onto the floor, she gave one sudden squeal, then she opened her mouth--
--"OH MY GOSH WHAT ARE YOU!? ARE YOU A FOX OR AN ALIEN OR A HORRIBLE EXPIREMNT GONE WRONG!?"--she inhaled--"OH MY GOSH YOUR FUR IS SO SOFT, HAVE YOU MET FLUTTERSHY SHE REALLY LIKES ANIMALS!! YOU HAVE A COOL ACCENT ARE YOU FROM CANTERLOT--"
And almost as quickly as it had begun, Pinkie Pie's mouth was shut, and she was gently levitated off of Kai.
"Pinkie, calm down. He's here to possibly help us defeat the demon," Twilight said, holding Pinkie in her magical aura.
"Sorry about that," Twilight gave Kai a guilty smile. "She's just very excited to meet a new friend, it won't happen again."
Kai's shocked expression disappeared in an instant, he sat up slowly, then his eyes landed on the still magically incased pink pony. Somehow, someway, there was someone more annoying than Kiki. It didn't help that Pinkie Pie was only a few shades lighter than her.
After a moment, Twilight let Pinkie go. She'd calmed down a bit, but she still took to idly bouncing around Kai, who had set the chair up right and taken a seat. The rest of the ponies took a seat as well, the atmosphere was tense and nopony --or fox-- spoke.
Twilight had asked Spike to prepare the group some tea, which he happily bounded off to the kitchen to do. After a few awkward moments of silent eye contact, Twilight cleared her throat.
"So, mysterious black fox, what is your name?" she asked, fiddling with her hooves.
"Kai Kitsune," Kai's response was swift and precise, he sat upright and completely still as he gave her that stone-faced expression.
"Right, as I'm sure you've heard, my name is Twilight Sparkle," Twilight smiled, though she continued to fiddle.
"These are my friends; Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack,"--she motioned to the pink pony who was still bouncing around Kai--"And Pinkie Pie."
"Sup," said Dash.
"Charmed," said Rarity.
"Hello," Fluttershy waved, a cute smile on her face.
"Howdy," said Applejack.
"HIYA!!" screeched Pinkie, who'd stopped just long enough to smoosh her nose against his, before continuing to bounce around him.
Kai did not move, he did not speak, he pretended that his ear hadn't flicked in agitation, and he regarded Twilight sparkle with a nod.
"This has been pleasant but I really need to get home. See, my friends are currently at war, and they need my help if they ever want to win. What exactly do you think I can do for you? As I said before, I am not familiar with this world."
"Your sudden arrival created a magical clapback so powerful, that it knocked the demon out of the sky and probably all the way across Ponyville. It seems that Equestrian magic has no effect on you, which means you should be able to get through the barrier and to the princesses," Twilight said.
"Barrier?" Kai asked.
"Yes, haven't you noticed that the sky is red? The demon created some kind of magical dome around Ponyville, presumably because he's not yet powerful enough to face Celestia and Luna, they're the princesses," Twilight explained.
"The demon was once a normal unicorn, but just a few hours ago he marched into town monologuing about taking over Equestria, I tried to stop him, but he was too powerful. So, the girls and I gathered the Elements of Harmoney, which are six magical pendants that embody harmony, we usually only use them to stop villains that are national threats," she continued.
"As soon as we fired the Elements at him, he cast some kind of spell and he absorbed their power, I hadn't even known that was possible! He shot the blast back at them and whatever he did corrupted the Elements, they turned black and twisted and burned us when we touched them. Then he used them to transform himself into a black alicorn, of which the only word I can think of to describe is demon ," Twilight finished, she bowed her head and let out a gentle sob.
"We're the barers of the Elements of Harmony, we're supposed to be out there protecting Ponyville! But Twilight wants us to wait until we hear from the princesses!" Rainbow Dash said with a huff.
"We can't fight that thing! Not without the Elements," Twilight steadied her breathing, wiping a tear from her eye with a hoof, she looked back up at Kai. "Will you help us? Please? That monster erected the barrier before we could hear from the princesses again, we've tried sending more messages, but they won't go through."
Kai thought about it, his eyes scanning the faces of the other mares, even Pinkie had stopped bouncing and was looking at him curiously. He sighed, then nodded at Twilight. "I will try, were shall I find your princesses?"
"They're probably trying to break through the barrier, the last message we received from princess Celestia said that we should wait here for their arrival. They would've come from Canterlot, which is in that direction," Twilight had stood and walked over to the window, gesturing toward the barely visible city on the mountainside. "You teleported here, right? Can you teleport again?"
"I don't think so, unfortunately. The amount of energy I spent teleporting here was quite draining," Kai said, eying Canterlot from the window.
Twilight blinked at him, then she shook her head. "Then you'll have to walk, I'll come with you in case the demon returns."
"What!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, suddenly in the air as her wings beat furiously at her sides.
"I won't fight it! I'll just distract it so that Kai can get away," Twilight said with a stomp of her hoof.
"Uh, no? Sorry Twilight, but I'm the fast one in this group, if anypony should be a distraction, it should be me!"
"I can hold the demon off at least! Don't you remember what happened when we first had to flee? You almost lost your wings!" Twilight said.
"I was shocked, okay?" Dash mumbled, still hovering.
"If I may, Rainbow Dash did save me from the demon, I do agree that she would be a better distraction, she can fly after all," Rarity said.
"Ain't neither of you two should go alone!" Applejack said. "If Kai needs a distraction, then all of us should help him. We work better when we're together, anyways."
"I don't really want to go back out there," Fluttershy said, her voice quiet as she trembled in her seat.
"Fluttershy can stay here with me, I don't mind looking out for her," Spike said, as he entered the room with seven cups of piping hot tea.
"I can go too~" Pinkie sang as she hopped up to Kai.
"I would truthfully rather go on my own," Kai deadpanned.
"But don't you want some help?" Twilight asked, a concerned look on her face.
"I may not be able to teleport, but I can still use my AE to fight. I am also invulnerable to most threats, I've been burned, frozen, electrocuted, poisoned--"
Twilight held her hoof up, her face a bit paler then normal. "Okay, okay! T-That's enough information, but please be careful out there! This might just be our last hope..."
"I will not fail," Kai turned away and began walking toward the entrance.
"That's certainly noble," Rarity cooed.
I will not fail, because it is imperative that I return to my friends. Kai held his tongue and exited the library swiftly.
Andre Paige gritted his teeth as the wind buffeted against his face, he was trying to relax but he hadn't had any luck so far. Sure, he'd been treated better than expected by the rebels. But still, being tied to a wooden stake for three days had made his whole-body ache. He held on tight to his dragon mount as its mighty wings flapped, the colorful forest blurring by below them.
An army of dragoknights shrieked and roared in the background, they were being led by a dozen cooperates as Andre directed them to the major rebel camp. Andre was lucky to be in the front and therefor the farthest away from the abominations, any fox who didn't keep a specific speed would be attacked and devoured by them. A dragon mount could do nothing against the hulking dragonkights, as large as two dragons combined and more aggressive than a mountain drake.
"It isn't much farther now," Andre had to shout to be heard over the whipping winds. "Do we still have everyone?" he looked over at Spencer, who was a couple of feet behind him.
Spencer looked back, scanning the group, then he turned to Andre and gave a nod of confirmation. "Yes sir!"
"Good," Andre hissed. He rested his head against the dragon, which was difficult considering the spikes. Watch out, Marky.
Now that he was actually getting to observe it, Ponyville was a very interesting place. Aside from all the fire and collapsed buildings, it was a quaint little town that had a welcoming feel to it. It reminded Kai of the farmer towns of Goji Forest. Although, most of his knowledge of them came from books, considering he was very young the last time he'd been in one.
Kai shook his head, now was absolutely not the time to be thinking about his long-lost home. Instead, he focused his eyes and ears on his surroundings, listening carefully for any sign of the 'demon'.
The town was quiet, a stark difference compared to the utter chaos he'd witnessed just under an hour ago. Kai figured that, with the 'demon' banished, the panicking ponies had all been able to find shelter.
Kai looked up at Canterlot as he walked, the magical dome around Ponyville blurring and distorting everything beyond. Then his ears swiveled, and he jumped to the side just in time to avoid a magical blast.
With lightning-fast reflexes Kai strafed left and right, his eyes scanning the sky for his attacker. But there was nothing there, at least, whatever it was it was too fast to follow.
Kai did a backflip and the ground before him exploded, then there was a woosh behind him. He immediately turned and leapt over the attacking pony, skidding to a stop. He turned just in time to get a glance at it. Then, he was dogging again.
This was going nowhere, the 'demon' was too fast to be attacked, but not fast enough to hit him. On his next dodge Kai made sure to land farther in the direction he needed to go. At the very least he could get closer to his target. Kai spotted a building up ahead that had a hole torn in the side, without thinking he rolled into the building as another explosion sounded behind him.
He climbed through the ruble, his ears perking as the 'demon' shrieked in rage. He saw light, hurrying he was able to escape the building and into an alleyway. Just in time too, as the already damaged house burst into flames mere moments later.
Kai ran in the direction of Canterlot, his fists clenched little blue sparks of AE flickered around them. He couldn't teleport, but--He spun around and shot several electric balls into the sky. They crashed into the 'demon' before it could escape, giving Kai enough time to take cover.
He panted as he pressed his back against a wall, his fur bristled from the adrenaline. Several explosions sounded around him, he lunged for the exit, but he could already feel the heat building--Then the world changed around him in a flash.
"Aha! I knew you'd need help!" Twilight said from beside him.
She sent a blast of magic at the demon, it screamed and flew back, the elements swirling around it as they sparked to life.
"Thank you," Kai said, turning to face their opponent as his AE crackled in anticipation.
"It's been weakened, I'll hold it off for you!" Twilight said, shifting into a fighting stance as both her and the demon's magic glowed bright.
"Are you sure that's wise?" Kai asked.
The elements became twirled into a blur, and with a white-hot BANG a beam of energy shot out of them and toward the pair.
"Just go!" Twilight yelled, her teeth gritted and with a scream she too fired.
Kai turned and ran before he could witness the two blasts connecting, but the sudden wave of heat following an explosive gale gave him a pretty good mental image. He could see the edge of town, his chest heaved softly as his feet pounded against the warm cobblestone.
Kai braced himself as the barrier approached, his teeth grit and his eyes shut tight as he plunged right through it. He skidded to a stop, turning he watched in awe as the red magic rippled and sparked. In the distance he could see red and purple explosions, he felt bad for leaving Twilight behind. The six ponies reminded him of six foxes.
Kai shook his head and turned back toward Canterlot, now he just needed to search around for the princesses. He walked with a brisk pace as he decided to circle the town, he did not want to waste any time.
KABOOM the earth shook as a ball of red flame exploded, casting a thousand tiny embers in all directions and setting the ground ablaze. Mark had barely dodged that one, sweat already dripped from his brow as he ran away from the beast. A series of similar explosions followed him, the Dragoknight roaring in rage as the force of its flapping wings ripped up dirt.
"Kerplatch! Kerplatch! Kerplatch! EEP--" Zoey jolted as Mark grabbed her, yanking her away as the ground exploded.
"Zoey, I don't think that's working!" he yelled as the two of them ran.
"Well, it's not my fault some stupid Gojian hundreds of years ago decided to make the amulet completely useless!" she yelled back.
The Dragonight that she'd been attacking violently shook the mud off of its face, before joining the one that'd been chasing Mark. There was at least a hundred of them, flying above the camp and shooting fire at everything that moved. Which luckily, only included Mark, Zoey, Kiki, and Indigo.
Indigo was able to hold his own, for the most part. Kiki would occasionally swoop in to cover him and lead a Dragoknight away, so that Indigo didn't have too many to deal with. His arrows didn't do much against their thick scales, so he had to rely on luck in hitting a furry area.
Mimi had led the kids deeper into the woods the moment the Dragoknight army had been spotted, she wasn't alone though and had the help of the remaining rebels. Unfortunately, in all the chaos, one little fox had gone unnoticed.
Louie shivered as he leaned against a tree, his large dragon claws digging deep into its bark as he slid down onto his rump. He was transforming, and he had a feeling this time wouldn't be the same as the others. His eyes flashed red, and horns began to protrude from his skull, sending blood trickling down his brow. He could feel his sanity slipping away. His ears perked as he heard the roaring of the cursed Dragoknights, he didn't want to be like them, but even now he could feel wings growing behind him. They spread out, twitching as his teeth sharpened and grew into fangs.
"Louie!?" Mimi called out, gasping as she realized that she hadn't seen him with the others. "Louie, where are you?" her voice grew frantic as she searched around, then she noticed something among the trees. Something big...
Louie forced himself to glare at the full moon, then with a mighty flap of his wings he sent himself sailing skyward.
"Louie!!" Mimi yelled, she ran after him, but he had already broken through the treetops.
She had been with him the last time he'd transformed, but back then he'd only transformed a little. Now though, he almost resembled one of the hulking beasts that had attacked the camp. Almost. Tears streaked down her cheeks as she watched him fly higher, after a moment she tore her gaze away and ran back to the others. She couldn't help him.
Louie gritted his teeth as he soared, his form illuminated by the light of the moon. He had to get away from them, he used the last little bit of his sanity to keep his friends safe. He'd already slipped away, and now he was only functioning on instinct.
Still, that last thought remained: Fly higher.
The world came back to him in a flash of white, blue sparks bouncing off of him as he gasped for breath. His ears flattened against his skull as a mighty BOOM shook the earth below him, causing him to fall back. His head pounded as he felt a shock wave of energy recoil from the blast, sending him flying backwards. He grunted as he collided with something warm, his heart skipping a beat as he thought he heard a shriek underneath the white noise.
Kai’s eyes shot open as he inhaled and exhaled rapidly, had he just killed someone!? He shot glances from side to side, his mouth falling agape as he noticed the scenery fading into existence around him.
Wherever he’d teleported to, he did not recognize the location. Looking down at himself he watched in awe as flecks of blue electricity bounced off of him and disappeared before they could hit the ground.
Then he looked up, his pupils shrinking as he watched rings of light stretch across the crimson sky. The last few bands of energy were already fading away, having emanated from a cloud of fading dark smoke about a hundred feet above him.
That’s when he felt something shift under his weight, he looked down and gasped again at what he saw. He’d landed on someone! Or something, definitely.
Twilight groaned in pain, she didn’t know what had just happened, or if she was dead or not. But it felt like a building had collapsed on her. Or somepony.
Is somepony lying on me? she opened her eyes and looked up, making eye contact with the golden eyes of… “Gah!” Twilight shrieked as she shoved the creature off of her, she got to her hooves and ignored the ache in her muscles as she backed away.
Then she tripped over something and went tumbling backwards, she shook her head and glared at whatever had tripped her.
It was Rainbow Dash.
“Oh my gosh, Rainbow!” Twilight cried, immediately moving to help her friend stand.
“Guh, what the hay happened?” Dash asked, shaking her head violently as she stood.
“A-Are we d-d-dead?” Fluttershy whimpered, she was on her back draped over a groaning Applejack.
“I don’t think ‘dead’ is supposed to hurt this much,” Applejack said, gently pushing Fluttershy off of her so she could stand.
“After that explosion I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if we were in the afterlife right now,” Rarity stated, combing her hair with her magic.
Twilight smiled, glad that all of her friends were okay, minus a few scrapes and bruises. Then she looked back at the creature that’d landed on her, and she gave it a quizzical look.
Kai wasn’t paying attention to the five ponies chatting behind him, he’d seen plenty of strange things in his world anyways.
And indeed this must be a different world, I can’t feel that annoying buzz of magic that’s always in the air. Kai hadn’t even known that there was always a buzz of magic, until it was suddenly missing from his senses.
“Hello?” Twilight asked, taking a tentative step forward. By now her friends had also noticed the tall black fox that stood on two legs.
“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice soft. He reminded her of the catfolk she’d read about, from the lands far outside of Equestria. Except he was clearly a fox, and not a cat.
“Are you hurt?” Fluttershy asked as she stepped up to stand beside Twilight, her nature loving instincts tingling to help the creature.
Kai looked back at the ponies, he didn’t feel like acknowledging them, he was far more interested in the traces of a magical combustion that was surely the reason he was brought to this world. With all he knew about magic and energy, he could tell that something extremely powerful had just occurred here.
And he had caused it.
“Girls, maybe we should get back to the library? Before that monster comes back!” Rarity said.
“I’m gonna go look for Pinkie Pie and Spike, you girls get to safety!” Rainbow Dash said, turning to take flight.
“Rainbow Dash, no!” Twilight stomped her hoof. “Clearly something immense has just happened, we need to question this creature, he may have answers about the demon!” she looked back at Kai, who was walking away from the scene.
“Hey!” she called after him, when he didn’t stop, she galloped past him and skidded to a stop, blocking his path.
Kai blinked, scanning the features of the little purple unicorn in front of him.
“Apologies Miss, but I must take my leave,” he said, then he walked right around a dumbfounded Twilight.
Twilight shook the confused look off of her face, then she turned to face Kai again.
“Now wait just a minute!” she said, igniting her horn to envelope him in her aura.
“You’re coming with us whether you like it or... Not…”
Twilight’s words died in her throat as Kai turned and gave her an inquisitive look.
Her magic hadn’t worked.
“Twilight, is there something wrong?” Fluttershy asked, stepping up next to her friend and placing a hoof on her shoulder.
“My magic, it isn’t working!” Twilight said, her tone growing frantic.
“What!?” her friends cried in unison.
“I- I don’t know, I-”
Before Twilight could work herself up, she noticed Kai standing closer to her. He gave her a contemplative look, then he shook his head.
“Probability is that your power has no effect on me, seeing as how I’m not from this world,” Kai said.
The five ponies stared at him, slack jawed.
“Oh,” Twilight said, she blushed and looked at her hooves. “You know what, that’s probably it.”
“Um, if it’s not too much trouble, can we please go back to the library?” Fluttershy asked, pawing at the ground with her hoof.
“Please!” Rarity whined.
Twilight glared at Kai. “Yes, we need to get back to the library before that demon comes back. It’s the safest place for us right now.”
Kai held Twilight’s glare, his face like a statue as Twilight studied him for any sign of emotion.
“Fine,” Kai said. “But make it quick, I finally have some time to myself, and I don’t plan on spending it in this world.”
“What do you mean he’s gone!?” Mark yelled, holding his hands up as if he were trying to grasp the air.
“Just like I said, one moment he was there and the next moment he wasn’t!” Kiki exclaimed.
“Did you SAY something to him to make him wanna leave?”
“Well, I uh, I kinda dared him to teleport eleven miles,” Kiki whistled innocently.
“YOU WHAT!?” Mark winced, he placed a hand on his forehead to try and soothe his developing headache.
“Why do we need him anyways, it’s just a little lightning,” Mimi asked, not bothering to hide her glare.
“Because KAI is the genius of this group, and he’ll know what the cause of this problem is!” Mark said through clenched teeth.
“I make lightning all the time, it’s not that impressive,” Mimi muttered, she turned her glare to the opening around them and watched the little flecks of blue lightning dance through the air.
It had been like this since Kai left, the normally welcoming rainbow forest now turning foggy as thunder clouds gathered above. A chill blew through the air and ruffled the fox's fur.
Despite her best efforts to ignore it, a sickening feeling was forming in Mimi’s gut, and it only got worse with what she heard next.
“Uh, guys!” Zoey yelled as she came running from the direction of the rebel camp. “The crazy general guy escaped!”
Mark turned toward her slowly, his jaw falling open as he registered what she’d said.
“Uh oh,” Kiki said, her ears flattening against her skull as she took a few steps back.
“Uh oh is right,” Mark snarled at no one in particular. “Both of you are in serious trouble when we find Kai!” he said, shooting Kiki a glare.
“What should we do!?” Zoey asked, panic entering her tone as her eyes darted back and forth between her friends.
Sighing, Mark willed himself to calm down. “Kiki, Mimi, you two go back to the camp and talk to Indigo. He’ll know what to do about Andre, Zoey and I will look for Kai!”
“On it!” Kiki said, she grabbed Mimi’s wrist and started pulling her away.
“Wait!” Mimi said, trying to stop her friend. She looked back at Mark, frowning. “Why don’t you let me look for Kai while you three deal with Andre?”
Mark shook his head. “Because the rebels could really use your smarts right now, with Kai missing you’re our last intellect!”
Mimi looked taken aback. She shook her head, then smirked at Mark. “Thank you, I uh, I’ll do my best to help!”
“Come on, let's go!” Kiki cried, finally she was able to pull Mimi away.
There was a moment or two of silence, before Mark rolled his eyes and marched off in a random direction.
“You know Louie is really smart too, right?” Zoey said as she caught up to Mark.
“Louie’s just a kid, besides Mimi clearly needed an ego boost,” Mark said.
Zoey blinked; she squinted as she tried to figure out what that was supposed to mean. Ultimately, she decided it wasn’t worth it, and the two set off into the woods to search for Kai Kitsune.
