Fateful lash

Chapters

Premonitions
Unfamiliar surroundings
Questions
Lavender
Missing
Fire
Help
Magic
Counter-Spell

Premonitions

Twilight sparkle groaned in discomfort and frustration. She’d been trying for what felt like eight ice ages to get to sleep, and yet it was a futile effort. Her library was silent, and yet, even with how tired she was, her body refused to co-operate with her requests for sleep, and instead dampened her coat and mane with a cold sweat, with was accompanied by a sense of unease, and nervousness. Spike rested peacefully not far away, his side rising and falling slowly as he breathed in peaceful sleep. With yet another groan of irritation, Twilight slowly shambled out of her bed, and stumbled down the stairs to the floor below.

Nothing was out of place. It was all exactly as she had left it, not a single book or item of any sort was even remotely out of place. Twilight sat down on the couch, and pondered her current condition. She was trying to determine if she had come down with some form of sickness. She ran over hey symptoms; Cold sweat, inability to sleep, constant awareness, and a sense of growing unease. She knew of a few conditions that had at least a few of those symptoms, but none immediately off the top of her head with all of them, without having more that accompanied them.

Either way, it frustrated her. Twilight paced mindlessly around the room, occasionally glancing outside the window to try and determine the passing of time. The sense of unease was growing. Twilight glanced out the window once more, and paused mid-step. She spotted something in the starry night sky. With a now curious expression, she slowly approached the window, and looked out. There was a vibrant ribbon of color up in the sky. It looked almost like an aurora. But, how was it here, this far south? Auroras typically only ever surfaced in the arctic sections of the world.

Twilight decided to not question it. It was a beautiful sight, nonetheless. The multicolored ribbons dancing to and fro in a slow, mesmerizing waltz was more than enough to transfix the lavender unicorn, and draw her attention for quite some time. Finally, she broke her attention away from the glowing light and back to her library. Immediately, she froze. Ok, something was definitely wrong now. There was a glowing pool of glowing water in the corner, looking like it was growing.

“Huh?” Twilight blurted. She froze up as she felt the familiar sense of unease suddenly spike. Her eyes slowly turned towards the window, and another gasp escaped her. Something was happening with the aurora. It was rippling violently, fluctuating and twisting, bending as though blowing in some sort of powerful gale. Twilight backed away from the window, as the aurora began to lash about the sky like a lightning whip.

“What’s happening?” Twilight asked, and turned back to the pool of glowing light. Her eyes narrowed, and she slowly approached. As the puddle came into view beneath her, she saw her reflection, and the scenery behind her. It was different. Twilight gulped. Her reflection was different on so many levels. Her mane was a mess, mangled, and longer than usual, as though it hadn’t been tended to in weeks. Her eyes were bloodshot, and looked tired, and irritated, bags under them. Twilight also noticed her reflection had her fair share of healing wounds.
Lastly, was the library; it was in ruins. Somehow, despite that, a smile was on twilights reflection, though Twilight could easily tell it was forced. The reflection spoke.

“Good. You came.” The reflection said. Off to the side, Twilight heard rarity speak.

“Come on, Twilight, hurry! I don’t know how long I can keep this open!” She said. Twilight looked around, trying to spot where Rarity was. She wasn’t in the room. She focused her attention back down on the puddle. The other her had lowered her head, and appeared to be holding back sobs. The reflection slowly looked back up, and spoke.

“Listen to me. I can’t go into detail, and can only tell you what I heard; don’t blame yourself. Something is coming that you simply can’t prepare for. There is nothing in your sea of knowledge that will prepare you for what’s coming. Just… don’t beat yourself up over it. Keep a clear mind, and enjoy life while you can…” The reflection was slowly starting to murk up. She seemed to notice this, and spoke hastily. “Keep your friends close, closer than ever before. I’m out of time… Good luck.”

The puddle slowly evaporated, and the reflection faded with it. Twilight looked where the puddle used to be, reduced to a simple dark spot on the floor. She slumped down, and released a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding. Something was coming? She looked back out the window. Outside, she spotted the aurora, still writhing in the sky. She looked at it intently, deciding that the two were somehow connected; the puddle, and the aurora. Spikes voice came from the stairs, a low tired groan. Twilight turned and spotted the baby dragon stumbling down the stairs.

“What’s going on out there?” Spike mumbled tiredly. Twilight looked outside again, and sat down in silence. “Twilight?” Spike asked, now a worried tone to his voice.

“Huh? Oh, sorry… I’m just a bit lost in thought.” Twilight muttered. A bit was an understatement. Her mind was a whirlwind of questions, theories, answers which quickly got dispelled as impossible, and more theories. The sense of unease as well as the cold sweat was starting to subside, replaced by a sensation of being shaken, confused, and under-informed. Twilight suddenly snapped out of her trance of thought when Spike spoke for the third time since she went quiet.

“Twilight? Are you OK?”

Twilight jumped and looked back over at Spike, a startled look crossing her expression. She sighed weakly, and stood back up. “Sorry, Spike. I’m just tired, and those lights outside have me confused.” She explained, purposefully leaving out the part where she had seen her reflection in the puddle. That reflection unnerved her tremendously. It almost scared her. Just the way her reflection had looked was enough to make her worried. Twilight shivered from a sudden cold, and yearned for the warmth and comfort of her bed again.

She slowly trotted past spike, barely giving him a glance, and headed up to her bed. Snuggling tiredly under the blankets, twilight looked outside of her window, spotting the Aurora starting to dance more slowly, entering once more into its entrancing waltz. Spike came up the stairs a moment later, and looked at Twilight with a growing look of concern. But before he could ask her anything, she started snoring. Sleep had found her at last.

<><><><><>

A crash and a lot of pain suddenly flared up inside of the green Unicorn with a brown mane. His eyes were snapped shut with fear, and he rolled violently along the ground, screaming in agony. Pain rippled through his back, as his limbs were tucked up to his body to keep himself from breaking any bones. He gasped for breath as he caught some air, and regretted it as he came crashing down once more, and got a mouth full of dirt. He rolled along somewhat further, and the side of his head collided with something very solid, sending another wave of pain coursing through his body and stunning him. He finally came to a halt, and his other senses began to relay information besides pain, and his own screaming.

First, there was the sound of wind rusting leaves overhead. Then came a slowly approaching mass of voices. Countless of them, all sounding worried, confused, or scared. The unicorn tried to pop open his eyes, and was greeted by a large amount of red. He snapped his eyes shut, realizing that it was blood in his eyes. He marveled at how he was still alive. He brought up a hoof, and cried in pain as he realized with despair that his forelegs had suffered greatly, becoming broken.

He whimpered in agony. Voices started crying out in surprise, and he heard the sound of galloping ponies. He tested his back legs, and found they were not so hampered. He shook his head, and tried to rapidly blink his eyes, attempting to get the blood out. Finally, he could see, though everything was rippling, and could be described as resembling a massive blob of different colors. As his vision attempted to focus, he saw countless ponies coming his way. He appeared to be in a town of some sort. He glanced up at the ponies, and one of them yelped in surprise.

“Somepony get help! He’s hurt” The pony tried hard to keep his eyes open, but failed miserably. Within only a few seconds, he had passed out. But before consciousness left him, he spoke quietly. “Am I free…?”

<><><><><>

The first thing Twilight was immediately aware of was a deep, distant rumbling. She at first paid it no mind, figuring it wasn’t anything of vast importance. But as the rumbling slowly evolved into a grandiose rumble that jarred her form her sleep, she decided it was warranting her attention. She quickly threw off her covers, and darted towards her window. She spotted what appeared to be a massive flaming meteor heading towards ponyville. Her eyes dilated, and she watched as the meteor suddenly gained a bit of air upon striking a roof-top, before sliding into the streets out of her view. The house had been lit on fire from the impact. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but it would soon, casting a dull pinkish red glow on everything.

“Uh-oh…” Twilights mind flashed back to the pool form the previous night, as well as that aurora. She felt a sudden pang of fear, but quickly swallowed it down. Now was not the time to panic. It was the time to figure out just what was happening. She quickly darted down the stairs, and out the door of her library, leaving the door open behind her. She followed the smoke trail that was drifting into the sky, and soon was upon the scene. She rounded a corner and was in the plaza around the town hall. A rather large amount of ponies were already gathered.

There was a blazing trench, which led to a large mound of dirt and blazing grass. Twilight approached a bit more cautiously, and her breath caught at the sight. A stallion was in the crater, many of his limbs were bent at impossibly wrong angles, indicating broken bones. Somepony else noticed this, and shouted for somepony to get help. Twilight was rapidly trying to put the pieces together in her mind, yet nothing was coming up that made any logical form of sense, despite the context.

Her first thought was that he had crashed here, but how would that make sense? He wasn’t even a unicorn. Her next assumption was that he had been hit by whatever had fallen, but where were the fallen objects remains? A number of ponies had departed the scene at a gallop for the Ponyville hospital a ways off. Curiosity boiled inside of her, and reached a crescendo as she approached him a bit closer. He said three simple words. “Am I free…?” His head thudded against the ground, and he seemed to lose consciousness.
Questions were all over from the ponies.

“Who is he? I don’t recognize him…”

“Where’d he come from?”

“Shouldn’t somepony try to patch him up now? Before he bleeds out?”

Twilight opted instead to remain silent. Whatever was going on was a complete mystery to her. She was certain that this falling something was related to the aurora from last night, as well as the pool of light in which her reflection had warned her of something terrible. Whatever that warning was, she was deeply troubled by it. But she was also determined to tough it all out. She hadn’t been prepared for the issue with Discord, and yet that had all turned out OK. With a sense of confidence falling over her, Twilight figured that she could prepare for whatever was coming. She needed to some investigating, but she could do it. With this new mindset, she slowly approached the stallion in the trench.

Before she could get much of a glimpse, however, the ponies from the hospital had arrived, and were already taking the stallion away for treatment. Twilight slowly wandered back to her library, with the intention of researching the phenomenon from last night, both the puddle as well as the crazy aurora. As she entered into the main room of her library, she quickly grabbed every book she could find that related to phenomenon, and mythical happenings.

Unfamiliar surroundings

My eyes were shut tight as the loud crack of the lashing whip sounded, and I stifled a scream as it connected, almost directly across this time, with my back. I clenched my teeth and groaned, but toughed it out. I'd been through worse. Oh so much worse. I stumbled as the whip lashed again, striking me in the head this time, as the tip shot ahead of me, and struck the flank of the pony in front of me. I stumbled, and fell, knowing that my life was about to get a whole lot worse.

“Get up, Whiplash!” A mocking, yet sneering voice barked, as the whip practically wrapped around my throat, and pulled me to my feet. It unraveled, and retreated. I coughed up some blood, and resumed moving. I burned with hatred, remembering for the umpteenth time my nickname of 'Whiplash'. Nopony knew my true name, and I was no exception. My parents had die din the third resistance, slaughtered by his men. They never even got to give me a name. So I was simply called Blank for many of my younger years, until after somehow earning more lashings than Anypony else in this wretched settlement, I had been named Whiplash, for being able to not only earn the most, but also survive the most.

Even my superiors commented on my constitution, and my tolerance for pain. It always gave me some sort of smug satisfaction when one of them spoke to me in a tone that didn't demand something. A compliment. I'd had so few of those in my life that I cherished each and every one.

“Pick up the pace, you lazy slacks! He's wanting this shipment delivered pronto!” Hopelock shouted to the line of chained ponies pulling the massive cart across the Everfree plains. I glanced up, and spotted a river off in the distance, and past it, I saw the one place that i wished I could go to. The castle of the pony sisters, a safe haven for those seeking refuge from him. I yearned so much to try and get there, to use my magic to break the chains binding me, and charge for the warmth and sanctuary of the resistances walls. But I knew I couldn't. Ponies were forbidden to look at the place, and I realized that too late.

“Eyes forward!” Hopelock snapped, and the whip lashed across my back, and magic yanked my head forward. None of this was fair! How could we be treated like this? Who could possibly cause such pain and agony with so little care? What thing? I glared my head in the opposite direction from the inviting castle, and spotted it. It was a truly law-of-nature defying place. The upside down towers, the green fire, the floating rocks, and the throne in the middle, surrounded by bat-winged ponies. It was miles away, and I'd only ever been close to the place ONCE in my whole life. But that was enough for me.

His seat of power. It was forever etched into my mind, a reminder of the fact that any resistance was futile. He was essentially a god, and nopony who had tried to stand up to him had lived for very long. That is, if you don't count being reduced to a mindless zombie-like shell of your former self as being alive. I know I don't. I heard a cry of pain from behind me. It was from a filly. I didn't look. Such an image might spawn me to act, which would only end with me being killed, or worse.

I ignored it, despite the cries slowly dying down to a dull gurgle, and then disappearing under the sound of hooves on soil. A single tear rolled down my cheek, and I have to fight to keep from screaming with rage. Another innocent lost... Because nopony wanted to act. I wanted to... But I knew that alone I would be utterly useless. I closed my eyes once again, as the whip cracked above my head, and struck home.

<><><><><>

“Are you sure your OK?” Spike asked nervously. It was nearing evening, and Twilight was still digging through her books.

“I'm fine, Spike. I'm just making sure I've covered all of my bases before I take off.” Twilight said, double checking her notes for the eighth time, and comparing them to the book floating in front of her.

“Twilight, you've been digging through these books for hours now. Shouldn't you stop for a rest?” Spike persisted. It was clear to him that Twilight was rattled, and more then a little curious.

“I'll be fine. I've just got to compare this last thing, and then I'm off.” Twilight assured, smiling slightly. Spike didn't look or even remotely feel convinced, but knew it was fruitless to argue with the obsessive Unicorn. Finally, after almost ten more minutes in silence, Twilight humphed in affirmation. “Alright, I think I've gotten all I can for now Ill check more later.” With that said, twilight headed for the door. Spike watched her go, concern growing more and more evident in his expression.

Twilight continued down the streets, taking in the sights as she went to the local hospital. She was hoping to get an audience with the newly arrived green stallion, and if not that, then at least ask the nurses about him. Who knows, maybe they'd have dug up some good information while she was researching the magical phenomenon. Soon the two story white building came into view. She entered through the front doors, and went to the front counter.

“Hello, miss Twilight. How can I help you?” The mare behind the counter asked.

“Hello. I was wondering If I could see a patient, if hes well enough.” Twilight said.

“What's his name?” The mare asked.

“I actually don't know. He's the one that fell out of the sky, if all evidence is to be believed.” Twilight said, adding a skeptical tone onto the last part of her sentence.

“Green coat and brown mane?” The mare asked, a hit of surprise in her voice.

“Yes, please.” Twilight affirmed.

The mare flipped through a few sheets of paper, making a light humming tone as she went. Finally, she made an 'Aha', and looked to Twilight.

“Sorry, dear. I'm afraid he isn't well enough. He isn't even conscious.” The mare said, a hint of pity entering her voice. Twilight winced.

'Oh... Well, OK. When he's well, just let him know that I was looking for him.” Twilight settled with that response after a moment. The mare nodded, a warm smile crossing her features.

“Of course.”

<><><><><>

The green stallion slowly creaked open his eyes. Light was the first thing he was aware of. Bright light. He let his eyes adjust, and cycled through his memories while he did so. OK, there had been a battle, biggest one in history if he recalled. Two sides, chaos and freedom, fighting it out for dominion over the ponies. He paused and took a moment to remember his name. As soon a sit came to him, a whole slew of other memories struck him. Whiplash, that was his name, and it haunted him. The many lashes of the whip... And those eyes... Oh mercy those horrible eyes, yellow with red iris' and pupils, digging into ones very soul.

Whiplash had only ever seen them once, and the image was still burned vividly into his memory. He shuddered, and focused back on his surroundings. He was in a bed, in a brightly lit, clean room with the bottom half of the walls being white, and the upper half green. Medical supplies(at least, Whiplash assumed as such, based on the red cross above his door) littered a series of counters and tables along the edge of the room. He tried to move, only to realize that his neck was restrained. A spike of fear wet through him.

“Hello?” He croaked. His voice was quiet, but loud enough he hoped for somepony to hear. He waited for some form of reply, but got none. His sense of nervousness began to grow. He tried to focus his magic, but came up empty hoofed. Not even a shimmer from his horn. He lay still, and listened. After what felt like ages, his ears perked up at the familiar sound of talking. The voices were drawing closer. Soon, he was able to pick out words amongst the sentences.

“...His condition is improving, we just need...”

“But what about...”

“...Should be fine.”

The door suddenly opened, and three ponies walked in. all three were wearing white coats with red crosses on the front. “So, does he need- Oh, you're awake!” the lead pony, a tan stallion with a black main said in surprise. A white mare with a red mane smiled warmly. “Hello.” Whiplash slowly nodded.

“Hi... Where am I?” Whiplash asked cautiously.

“The Ponyville hospital.” The tan stallion said. Hospital? What the hay was a hospital? Whiplash felt a spike of panic, but forced it down quickly.

“Ok... Um, what's a hospital?”

The three ponies stared at him with a mixture of surprise and confusion. Finally, the until now silent pony, a mare with a yellow coat and a pink mane spoke. “Well... A hospital is a place of healing, and recovery. Wounds are treated, as are all other manners of ailments.” She said softly. Whiplash visibly relaxed to this. He sighed with relief. Then he began to wonder; Ponyville? Where was that? He hadn't seen it on any maps.

“Uh, where exactly is Ponyville?” he asked, hating himself slightly for likely sounding like a total moron.

“Ponyville is just off of the Everfree forest.” The tan stallion said after a moment.

“Everfree forest? Don't you mean plains?” Whiplash asked.

“No, I mean the forest. It hasn't been a plain for over eight hundred years.” The stallion said. “Now, ma yi have your name?”

“W... Whiplash.” Whiplash said quietly. The stallion nodded as he took a seat next to Whiplash on a stool he hadn't noticed.

“Right, Whiplash... I'm going to ask you a few routine questions. All I want are honest answers. Is that OK?” Whiplash slowly nodded as his response. The stallion cleared his throat. “First off... What is the last thing that you remember?” The stallion asked.

“I... I was running from something. There was a battle going on, and I got caught in the crossfire. An explosion hit me, and now I'm here. It's all fuzzy, so I couldn't tell you much more than that.” Whiplash explained.

“Hmmm... Alright. What's your hometown?” The stallion asked.

“Hometown?” Whiplash echoed. He thought for a moment, and finally decided to proclaim he didn't have one. “I... I don't have a home...” He finally uttered.

“Ok... Any relatives we can contact?” The stallion asked?

“None that are alive.” Whiplash said.

This carried on for quite some time. Finally, it ended with the stallion telling him that the towns librarian, Twilight sparkle had requested to see him when he was well and able to move. They brought him some food, which he happily ate, even if he was in too rotten of a state to bring it to himself. Being fed by unicorn controlled spoon, he was finally left to get some rest. With a mind and body that were both physically and emotionally wrecked, he retreated inside of his thoughts, which soon dissolved around him into the peaceful silence and trance of sleep.

Questions

The next week or two passed as something of a blur for Whiplash. It was a routine of being asked questions, be it about who he was, or how he felt, and of taking strange capsules called “Pills”. He was lost in thought almost the entire time, and asked questions whenever, and wherever he could. He knew that his surroundings had changed, in more than just a few ways. When he wasn’t with the doctors or nurses being treated, he was looking through his memories. They were all there, but very many of them were fuzzy, or even silent. The images were burned forever into his mind, but any sound refused to go with the images.

On the third day of his third week, his thought process was disrupted when the door to his room was opened. The doctor walked in, same as the first time he had showed up. The doctor’s warm smile somehow gave Whiplash a hint of unease. Something was about to happen, his instincts were telling him. However, whatever it was eluded him. The doctor came to Whiplashes side. “Well, Whiplash. I’ve got good news.” He said, with an air of pleasure and satisfaction.

“Good news?” Whiplash asked. He had had a lot of news, most of it middle of the road. Either a limb was healing, but would take a while or something like that.

“Yes. You are getting released.” The doctor said. Whiplashes ears fell slightly. After a moment, the doctor continued. “I understand that you’re confused, and don’t have any place to stay. But we can’t house you forever.”

“What am I supposed to do? I mean, I have no home or family…” Whiplash trailed off and his voice grew faint.

“Don’t worry too much. If I recall, Twilight sparkle had requested to see you when you were well. If you don’t have anypony to go to, then go to her. She’s a kind mare, and I’m sure she can help you find your place more than I could.” The doctor smiled reassuringly. Whiplash relaxed a little bit, but still felt a little uneasy.

<><><><><>

After a short time, some files were signed, and Whiplash walked out into the sun. He had almost forgotten what it had felt like, being under that chaotic storm for so long. It felt great. He paused, closed his eyes, and just let himself relax. He stood for the better part of four minutes, before opening his eyes, and he began to walk again. His mind was racing with questions, but he shoved most of them down, bringing up two of the most immediate ones. Where is this Twilight Sparkle? And how can she help me?

For a while, he meandered through town, simply taking in the sights and landmarks, using them to put a mental map in his head. It was a fairly sizeable town, though not a city by any means. He asked around a bit, and after a few long roads, a number of wrong turns, and a lot of irritation, Whiplash finally came to the house of Twilight sparkle, or more rather, the tree of Twilight Sparkle. It was a literal tree house, something which Whiplash was distinctly unused to. He took a deep breath, and knocked at the door.
<><><><><>

Twilights head poked up from the book she’d been reading. She had spent the first week after the strange pony crashed just investigating strange magical occurrences. But much to her displeasure, she found nothing that related to crazy southern auroras, or ponies falling from the sky unless they were a Pegasus who simply lost control. About halfway through the second week, she had dropped the matter mostly. She still revisited her notes on occasion, but could never piece together any conclusions.

Whatever the case was, a knock resounded from her door. Picking herself up off of the couch, she approached the door, and opened it with her magic. She was only momentarily startled when she saw the same pony that had crashed into the town plaza. She stared at him for a moment, before clearing her throat and smiling. “Hello. I’m Twilight Sparkle. I see you were told I wanted to see you.” Twilight said, her curiosity officially spiking back to their original levels.

“Yeah, I heard. And I’m here. So what did you want to see me about?” The pony asked. Twilight stepped back.

“Come on in, and we can get started.” She said. Somewhat nervously, the green pony walked into the main room of the library. Twilight closed the door behind him. He looked around, dumbfounded.

“So many books…” He muttered, transfixed. Twilight looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Trust me, this is nothing overly special. The real library is at Canterlot castle.” Twilight said. The green pony turned to her, his eyes suddenly wide.

“Where in Equestria did you find so many books? I always thought they were few and far between.” He seemed completely mesmerized.

“Uh, well, not overly so. They’ve gotten more common over the years.” Twilight said, taking in her collection. She never viewed it as being as extensive and impressive as her old library back at Canterlot, but it was still a good enough collection to get her through most of the troubles her and her friends had faced.

“Well, I guess…” The pony looked around again, sitting on his haunches.

“Well, I called you here for more than just looking at my books. I was hoping to learn more about you.” Twilight said, putting on her official business smile.

“Oh, right. What do you want to know?” The pony turned to look at Twilight.

“Well, your name would be nice.” Twilight said.

“Whiplash.” Whiplash stated his name simply, and without much hesitation.
Twilight nodded.

“Ok then. Now, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but your arrival here was preceded by an odd form of light in the night sky. I was wondering if you knew anything about that.” Twilight asked, pulling up some notes with her magic.

“I’m afraid not. My memories are a little fuzzy, and jumbled up. I… Just can’t get a good picture out of it.” Whiplash stated grimly. Twilight nodded slowly.

“Given your impact, I’m amazed you don’t have amnesia.” Twilight said. She lifted another sheet of paper in front of her. “Alright, So…” this carried on for quite a while. Twilight asking questions, and not getting very enlightening answers. By the time an hour had passed, she had exhausted all of her questions, and got almost no answers. By the end of the day, not a single connection could be made. It was the middle of the afternoon when Twilight finished with her questions.

Whiplash looked down at the floor, noticing twilights mild frustration at her lack of solid information. “I’m sorry I wasn’t of more help.” Whiplash hesitated, and then started for the door.

“Where are you going?” Twilight asked, causing Whiplash to pause. He thought hard about it for a moment.

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t. I don’t have a home.” His eyes lowered.

“You don’t have any place to stay?” Twilight asked, surprised.

“I don’t. The world around me seems to have changed completely. I have no idea what’s what. But I’ll manage. I’ll figure things out.” He looked back to Twilight. “So, goodbye, Twilight sparkle.” He started for the door again.

“Wait, maybe you could stay with me? Who knows, maybe I can help you get your memories figured out?” Twilight asked, figuring she might be able to get better answers if she did get his memories worked out.

“I don’t want to be a burden. I’ve always been something of a loner. Thanks for the offer, though.” Whiplash confirmed, and stepped outside, closing the door behind him. Twilight looked after him for a moment. After a short while, she decided she’d see him again, and went back to her notes, jotting down what little she had figured out.

<><><><><>

It had only been a few hours since Whiplash had talked with Twilight, and already he was beginning to reconsider Twilights offer. From what Whiplash understood, ‘Weather teams’ controlled the weather. And they were whipping up a storm, it seemed. Rain had started pouring, and winds were picking up. No lightning, thankfully. But it wasn’t just the bad weather that was making Whiplash reconsider. It was also that he had no plan. No direction. No goal. Before he came here, he had two goals: Survive, and something else, something important.

His mind was drawing a blank. He groaned miserably as his previous assumption of there being no lightning was abruptly shattered by a loud thunderclap overhead. Overhead, pegasi darted back and forth, presumably trying to keep the weather under control. He didn’t know much about weather teams, but he could only assume that it was going poorly for them. What was worse was a worsening headache that was plaguing his mind. Grumbling with frustration, he looked for a possible shelter from this downpour.

He turned his head just in time for a wooden sign to fly off of its hinges, and strike him in the head. Only slightly dazed, Whiplash shook his head to clear the stars from his vision. Finally, he spotted a large tree just outside of town. Coming closer, he found the grass to be only slightly damp. He found the driest spot he could, settled down, closed his eyes, and tried to get some sleep.

<><><><><>

My legs buckled, my eyes watered, and my nerves along my back screamed for salvation. The ship came again, lancing across my back, drawing blood. I could feel the warm dribbles of my blood running form multiple spots on my back. My forelegs were stretched far on either side of me, tied to the wooden wall. My hind legs suffered similarly. I held back tears. She hadn’t done anything. SHE did NOTHING. Yet out of some perverse, maniacal desire for blood, she was now dead. Slaughtered like some animal. I had tried to get to her before they could do her in, and I failed.

And when I realized this, unspeakable rage filled me. I attacked Hopelock, and in my rage, had almost killed him. I remember the satisfactions of listening to HIM beg for mercy, instead of ME or those I could loosely call my companions. The glee of watching HIS blood hit the ground, as I struck at him in any way I could; Teeth, hooves, horn, and magic. But I couldn’t kill him… I just couldn’t. I hesitated, and he was able to fight back.

I knew what was coming. I had almost killed a superior, and I had shown rebellious nature. I knew of the shipment, and so I knew of one of his darkest secrets. If I was allowed to live, I would escape, and I would tell the newly founded celestial resistance of that shipment. They were going to kill me. My life was forfeit.

But first, a bit of pain and a little more blood. The whip came again, the thorns along the length digging harshly into my back. I winced harshly, but didn’t scream; I would never give them the satisfaction of hearing my scream again. No more begging, no more apologies. If my life was to end, Then I would spend it how I so chose. And I chose to die with dignity. The whip struck home once more. Finally, after the next lash, I heard the still wounded Hopelock speak. “Enough. It’s time.”

The whip ceased its agonizing strokes, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hopelock approaching. “Aren’t you going to beg, Whiplash? Beg for your life to be spared?” He smirked broadly.

“Why in Equestria… Would I, after what you did, give you the pleasure of hearing me beg? Why, would I beg for my life, when I no longer wish to keep it?” I snarled, gasping for breath. Hopelock Shrugged.

“Fair enough.” His horn glowed its familiar blood red. Truth be told, I was terrified. I wanted nothing more than to curl up into a shivering ball and cry. It wasn’t so much dying that scared me, no. It was what death might hold. Will it just be an empty void, empty of all feeling? Will it be some new life? I honestly had no idea. Whatever it was, though, that primal instinct to survive was screaming at me.

But before the horn could cast whatever deathly spell it had curled around it, there was a sudden sound from the door, or, more accurately, the now splintered remains of a door. Three lightly armored pegasi charged in, and one of them tackled Hopelock to the ground. Another attacked the lasher, while the third began to untie me. I collapsed to the ground, and the sudden spikes of pain up and down my ravaged back caused me to begin to black out. I looked up to catch a glimpse of my saviors. Three armored pegasi, and a tall pony, much taller than most I’d ever seen walked in with a pink mane flowing in an invisible breeze.

“Get the medics in here, now!” She said in an elegant, majestic voice. And then my vision faded to black, and I lost consciousness.

Lavender

Whiplash suddenly sneezed himself out of his sleep. His vision was blurred, and he had an incredible migraine. Groaning in pain, he forced his eyes to focus. It was morning, or at leas,t he assumed as such. The sky was brighter then when he had gone to sleep. It was overcast with a heavy mist, so his perception of time was a little shot. He groaned with pain as his headache spiked once more. He held still and decided to try and listen for any evidence of the time. Well, ponies were definitely talking. So it wasn't the middle of the night.

His ears flicked slightly when a voice spoke not far from him. It was accompanied by a pair of other voices. All female, and all very young.

“Ya think Fluttershy'll really take us on that trip?” A heavily accented voice said. Yeah, she was young. Probably no more than a filly. Whiplash didn't really care. He was trying to force his headache down.

“She might, but I'm not holding my breath.” Another, somewhat harsher voice said.

“If she doesn't, we'll find another way. I mean, this is a pretty big project. We cant afford to fail it.” A much softer voice said. Whiplash sighed. Suddenly, Whiplash almost cried in pain as his migraine shot to new heights. He hissed between his teeth, and felt sweat going down the sides of his head. But then, just as suddenly as the migraine had spiked, it was gone completely. He then noticed the ringing in his ears, which was beginning to die down, replaced by cries of surprise.

Glancing up, through the fog Whiplash saw three fillies. One with a bright yellow coat and a red mane was curled up in a ball, holding her head. A dark orange one with a vivid purple mane stood looking shocked, staring at one of her own hooves. And the third, a white filly with a medium pink mane looked dumbfounded. Something had just happened. Whiplash shrunk back a bit, and listened. “Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Applebloom!” The orange one said, slowly walking towards the fallen filly. She reached out a hoof, which Applebloom swat away. Appleblooms had a blackened left eye.

“No, you're not!” Applebloom shouted, on the verge of tears. Whiplash then noticed something odd. The fillies were in the completely wrong place. Just a second ago the had been within spitting distance. Now they were a fair distance away, and the hoof prints in the grass made it seem as though they had been there for a while. He also spotted a popped ball a little ways off.

“Please, you two. Calm down. Let's just get back to the tree-house OK?” the white filly suggested quietly. Applebloom slowly stood. Whiplash watched this spectacle up to this point. At which point he promptly stood, and took his leave. He'd gotten himself involved with enough things in the past to know to just let them play themselves out. The more he interfered, the worse a situation seemed to get.

Whiplash meandered around for quite some time, trying to come up with some form of plan. Many of his ideas were fruitless, and he shot them down quickly. After some time of meandering, he realized he was snuffling, sneezing, and coughing a lot. “Perfect...” He grumbled. He must have caught a cold during the storm. A cool breeze blew by, causing him to shiver violently. Coughing again, he slowly wandered into the middle of town. Another chill breeze washed over him.

“Whiplash?” He heard a familiar voice say. He turned and saw none other than Twilight sparkle walking towards him.

“Oh, hello.” Whiplash muttered. He shied away slightly.

“Are you OK? You're shivering.” Twilight observed, looking him up and down. Whiplash groaned slightly.

“Ah, just caught a cold in last nights rain is all.” Whiplash said, sneezing a moment later. “Don't worry, I've been through much worse.” Whiplash said, remembering that horrible vine-covered whip. Twilight didn't look reassured, especially once an out of touch look entered into Whiplash's eyes, but decided not to press the matter.

“Well... Alright. The weather teams are supposed to be clearing up this fog and overcast later. Just try and keep somewhere covered until then.” Twilight smiled warmly at him, and then walked past. A spark of curiosity struck whiplash as he noticed the quickness in Twilight’s step. She was in a hurry. Whiplash, after a moment’s hesitation, decided that having nothing else to do, he'd follow her. And so he did. It only took two turns for her to notice this.

She paused and looked to Whiplash, who in return paused as well. “Why are you following me?” Twilight asked.

“Just curious to see what you were up to.” Whiplash replied. “It's not like I’ve got anything better to do.” Twilight looked at him questioningly.

“Well... Why didn't you just ask?” Twilight asked, turning to face Whiplash full-on.

“I didn't want to get involved.” Whiplash replied, tilting his head down slightly. Twilight looked at him skeptically.

“Still want to know?” Twilight suddenly asked. Whiplash looked up at her, a little surprised. He was honestly expecting her to call him a creep and keep wlaking.

“Uh... sure?” He half responded, half asked.

“Well, my friend Applejack's little sister, Applebloom was hurt by one of her friends. Apparently the whole situations a mess. I'm going over there to try and help resolve the matter.” Twilight explained, resuming her walk. Whiplash kept pace with her, though he still lagged behind a bit.

“What caused her friend to lash out?” Whiplash asked, not out of concern, as he had never conversed with this Applebloom, but out of curiosity, as he had missed it when his migraine flared.

“Someponys getting a little poky, now aren't they?” Twilight said, looking back at Whiplash.

“Well, I was just curious.” Whiplash admitted a part of his reason. Twilight rolled her eyes.

“Well, if the story I heard is anything to go off of, Scootaloo, Appleblooms friend, got a little aggressive while they were playing a game of ball, and accidentally popped said ball. Applebloom scolded her, and then Scootaloo struck her in the eye.” Twilights voice grew quiet as she spoke. “It's strange. Scootaloos attitude has always been the most aggressive of those fillies, but shes never actually attacked anypony before.” Twilight looked at the ground and seemed lost in thought.

“Yeah... weird...” Whiplash muttered. The two walked in silence for quite some time. The clouds were definitely clearing up. More ponies were starting to walk the streets. Twilight kept casting glances at Whiplash. Whiplash raised an eyebrow.

“Something bothering you?” Whiplash asked. Twilight halted mid step, eyes locked on Whiplash.

“Uh... yeah. What's with your Cutie-mark?” Twilight asked. Pointing with a hoof at Whiplash's flank. He looked over his shoulder, and shuddered as he saw the six crossed metal prison bars, forming what looked like a tick-tack-tow board. To him, it was a painful reminder.

“What about it?” he asked, slightly more harshly then intended.

“I was just curious as to what it meant. I've yet to see a mark quite like that. It doesn't tell me anything.” Twilight clarified. Whiplash snorted and looked away.

“Let me put it to you this way; It is no way a story I want to get into.” Whiplash said bitterly. His change in attitude caught Twilight completely by surprise. She caught the hint, though.

“Sorry, I won't ask any further.” She apologized.

“Good.” Whiplash said shortly, before turning and walking away from Twilight, his rotten mood made worse by a returning headache, and horrible memories he could just as soon forget.

<><><><><>

It was the afternoon now, and Whiplashes headache was getting much worse. He focused on not putting too much strain on his senses, so he situated himself under his new favorite tree. He had never really examined the area around it before. It was a large park area, with a cobble-stone road winding through it. There were other trees, but they were still relatively young. Whiplash's eyes slowly wandered back to his Cutie-mark, and resentment coursed through his veins.

Why? Why in Equestria did his special talent have to involve him being some sort of underling? Like the slave he once was? His headache spiked back into a migraine, and with a shout of frustration, he slammed a back-hoof into the tree behind him. He held that stance for a few moments, and then...

“OW!” He sat on his haunches and cursed at himself for being so stupid. He examined his hoof, and concluded it would simply ache for a few minutes. He watched as ponies filtered in and out of the park. A few of them cast him worried glances, but he payed them no mind. It wasn't their problem. With a sigh, and his migraine now gone, he opted to have it looked at. But before that, he needed to calm his nerves. He shut his eyes and let images of peaceful scenery dance before him, and took deep breaths, washing out the pain, and replacing it with a serene sort of peace and harmony.

He hadn't intended on falling asleep, however...

<><><><><>

I couldn't believe my luck, and yet hated my situation all the same. A number of the other prisoners and I had been freed by the Celestial rebellion, and brought to the castle I could never even look at under normal circumstances. It was an incredible feeling; the hay was fresh and aplenty, as was all the rest of the food, such as apples and other foods. But with it came a subtle realization. My life would not be spared now.

I was doomed to die at some point, I had accepted that a long time ago. But to die when I wasn't ready... I could barely control the fear I felt when I realized that it could happen any day. Reports were coming in; Hopelock had survived, and was seeking approval to besiege the castle. I sat in the castles large dining hall, munching halfheartedly at an apple. I was terrified. And what was more, is I knew the last of my friends hadn't made it. I was completely alone now. I swallowed hard as the last echoing cry for mercy from her echoed through my mind.

“Hey, are you OK?” A female voice asked me. I swiveled my neck to look. A mare whose colors were a lavender coat and light pink mane was looking at me, a look of worry in her eyes. I sighed.

“No. Why would I be?” I gestured to the room around me. “Everypony here has somepony. Even if it's just one, they at least have somepony they can honestly say has their backs.” I turned my eyes down ”And what am I left with? Me, Myself, and I, and that's pretty much it.” I returned to my salad.

“Why aren't you looking for somepony?” She asked.

“What's the point? Its Everypony for themselves. I'd just be a burden, so who'd want me to be in their small group?”

“Why call yourself a burden?” She asked me. I really didn't have an answer to that. I never had a particularly high self-esteem, and was so unused to this free-life that I was blundering about like a bat without ears.

“I'm like a deaf bat. I don't know much of anything of how to behave outside of those enslavement camps.” I sighed heavily. “I'm utterly lost.”

“Can you read?” She suddenly asked. I stared at her, dumbfounded.

“Uh... I recognize some basic symbols, like my barracks number when at camp, but... That's about it. Why?” I asked.

“Maybe we can help each other.” She suddenly held out a hoof. “I'm lavender stalk. Just call me Lav, though. Nice to meet you Mister...”

“Whiplash. What are you proposing?” I asked, genuinely curious to see what this Lavender had in store for me.

“Me and my brother need to know how to defend ourselves, and you need to know how to read. I heard that you were quite tough back at the camps, and figured you'd at least know something about fighting. All I ask, is that you teach us how to defend ourselves, and we'll teach you how to read and write. Sound good to you?” Lav explained, a glimmer of hope in her eyes. I was about to agree, but caught myself.

“How old is your brother?” I asked.

“He and I are twins.” She smiled warmly. I lowered my head. For a moment, I contemplated my options. I looked up at Lav, and spoke;

“You've got yourself a deal”

<><><><><>

Whiplash slowly opened his eyes, and shivered violently as a cold, night breeze washed over him. He tucked his legs closer to try and contain his body-heat, but it was for naught. His shivering continued. The sun had set recently, casting everything in the dark, ominous glows of dusk. Whiplash sneezed hard, and groaned at a new-found chest ache. “ugh, so that’s what lungs taste like…” He muttered, irritated. He sighed heavily as Lavender came back into his mind. He lay his head back down. “I’m so sorry, Lav…” he whimpered.

He tried to get more sleep, but images raced through his mind. Images he never wanted to see again. His face tightened in an attempt to hold back tears. “I should have… I just wish… Isn’t there something I…” He realized he must’ve looked stupid, talking to nopony. He sighed. “I’m just… I’m a coward, Lav. I left you, and I shouldn’t have. I just hope you can forgive me…”

And as he suspected, silence was his answer.

Missing

The following morning, Whiplash was initially only vaguely aware of a lot of hoof steps moving about. He tossed over to his side, and groaned in annoyance. He became steadily more aware of ponies voices about, muttering in hushed tones to one another, and all in all disrupting his peaceful rest. Finally, Whiplash snapped his eyes open, and looked around. It was a sunny morning, but something seemed... off. The ponies seemed to be more than a little on edge. He could hear an authoritative, commanding voice echoing through the streets, likely amplified.

Deciding he needed to work the stiffness out of his joints, for the reason that he still didn't have a proper bed to sleep in, and grass wasn't exactly the perfect sub, Whiplash pushed himself to his hooves. A few ponies cast him glances, some with worried expressions, while others wore prominently more stern looks. Something was up, and his natural paranoia was nagging at him that it wasn't going to end well.

Following the echoes, Whiplash wandered up towards town hall, still getting glances from other ponies. He payed them no mind, however, and continued on to the town hall. It was only a short while before he was close enough to listen clearly.

“...To find them. Nopony worry, they will be found. I assure you.” There were a few disappointed murmurs, but the echoing voice stopped. Thinking back on it, Whiplash recalled that the voice belonged to the mayor. He kept walking and was soon at the plaza around town square. Ponies were dispersing, many of them looking a little unnerved. Whiplash scanned the crowds, looking for a familiar face. He soon found Twilight's up on the platform where the mayor was, and the two were having a chat. There was also a white Unicorn with a stylish purple mane, whose features demonstrated a look of worry and anxiety.

“...But I've never heard of so many ponies just up and vanishing like that.” Twilight said as Whiplash came closer. Her voice was filled with confusion.

“I feared as such...” The mayor said, looking distraught.

“Please, just find her. I don't care what you have to do!” The white unicorn pleaded, desperation and concern readily all over her voice.

“Please, Rarity. We'll find her, and the friends who went missing with her.” Twilight assured, though her words didn't seem to convince Rarity. Rarity sighed, and walked off the platform, passing by Whiplash without a second glance. Whiplash slowly approached the steps that led up to the stand. The mayor noticed him first.

“Oh, do you have any leads, sir?” she asked. Whiplash shook his head and then responded.

“Actually, I totally missed it. What's going on?” He asked. The mayor looked to Twilight, then back to Whiplash.

“I'm sorry, but I need to organize the search. Twilight, could yo give our friend here the gist?” The Mayor asked.

“Of course.” Twilight said. The mayor nodded, and trotted inside. Twilight turned back to Whiplash. Before she could speak, however, Whiplash held up a hoof.

“Wait. Before you start talking, I just wanted to apologize about how I acted last time.” Whiplash said, lowering his hoof back to the ground. “I just... there are some bad memories associated with my cutie mark, is all.” He admitted. Twilight stared at Whiplash for several moments, a calculating look in her eyes. Eventually, her expression softened.

“Apology accepted. Now then...”Twilight cleared her throat and continued. “Earlier today, a resident came forward declaring that all of the young ones present at a party the night before seemed to have vanished, and the house was in disarray. She never sent them home, as it was a sleepover, and nopony else has seen the ponies since last night.” Twilight explained.

“Huh... well, I'll keep my eyes peeled.” Whiplash said. Twilight smiled, nodded, and trotted inside town hall after the Mayor. Whiplash turned tail, and trotted into town. No particular goals struck his fancy, so he simply decided to go back to his tree. The sun was drifting higher into the sky, turning the early morning glow to the more prolonged lighting of midday. Birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and all seemed to be at ease, save for the missing foals, which Whiplash wasn't immediately concerned about. Painful memories were starting to disperse, and he was actually beginning to feel safe. He paused to sniff at the air.

WHUMP! Something bumped hard into his back-end, knocking him flat on his face. His mood now officially ruined, he turned glaring eyes behind him, but saw nothing. Just little hoof prints that stopped about a foot behind him. Whiplash forced himself to his feet, and looked around for whatever rascal had just knocked him down, but was sourly disappointed when he found no sign of anypony like that.

With a sigh, Whiplash was about to turn away, and continue walking, when he noticed something that at first made him think he had lost it. New hoof prints were starting to form, forming the unmistakable pattern of trotting as the prints appeared further and further away. OK, this was officially weird, Whiplash decided. He waited, and watched. The prints slowly made their way into a nearby alley. Curious, Whiplash followed after. He didn't see anything, save for a large collection of these prints, varying in size. And more were forming.

“Hello?” Whiplash asked, figuring he might as well try. He got no response, at least, none that were verbal. Instead, the prints made a b-line for him, approaching very quickly. He stood still, and felt the identifiable warmth and presence of other being sin close proximity. Kneeling down slightly, he looked to the different pairs of prints. His chin hit something solid and pointy, and he recoiled slightly, looking to see what he'd hit. Just empty air. Or so it appeared. He slowly reached a hoof out, and felt around above the prints.

His hoof softly connected with what felt like another ponies head, save for the fact it was smaller, and felt more tender. “I can't see you.” he murmured. The 'head' seemed to respond, and he felt what he only assumed was a jaw moving. “Nor can I hear you.” He affirmed. The head against his hoof seemed to droop a little. “Are you part of the group that went missing last night?” Whiplash asked. The head in his hoof tilted up and down. A nod.

“OK... If you can stay put, I can bring some parchment and quills, and you can tell me about what happened.” Whiplash said, putting on a smile. The head nodded vigorously, jaw moving again. Whiplash nodded. “Alright, stay here. I'll be back.” Whip lash carefully patted the top of the head, and then stood, walking form the alley. He quickly brainstormed; No bits, so he couldn't buy the parchment, and he didn't own any. What options did that leave him with?

“Twilight.” He said the name simply. He only knew one pony in town, and she, from what he'd seen, definitely had a lot of spare parchment lying around her library-tee-house. He started in the direction of where he had last seen her. The town hall.

<><><><><>

OK, that hadn't gone as planned, Whiplash decided. In the time he'd been walking to Town hall, Twilight had run off to gather her friends to look over the town for the missing Fillies. Whiplash didn't reveal that he'd found them, as his paranoid side was telling him to save that bit of information until they were actually visible. No, not visible, Perceivable. They weren’t invisible, it was the other ponies who could no longer take in their image. He'd never heard of magic like that, but then again, living over half of ones life with no education did have side-effects of being under-informed.

So, now Whiplash needed to basically run back and forth all over town, trying to find Twilight. By the time he found her, he was out of breath. This was taking a lot longer then he'd been wanting. Twilight was gathered with five other ponies, whom each had a different expression on their face. Rarity was present, her face unchanged from their prior meeting. The other four ponies, in order form left to right were a Yellow Pegasus with a curly pink mane, and had a timid expression on her face. Her cutie mark was a trio of butterflies.

There was also a pink pony was a somewhat darker shaded mane, and a trio of balloons for a cutie mark. Then an orange pony with a yellow mane, wearing a western-style hat. Then there was a cyan Pegasus with a prismatic, many colored mane that resembled a rainbow. Whiplash stood back a short distance while twilight gave instructions. “Fluttershy, try and see if you can get a few of your critters to help us search.”

“Uh, ok.” The yellow Pegasus whispered, barely audible.

“Rainbow Dash, I need you to keep an eye open from the air.” Twilight instructed.

“Easy. You got it.” The prismatic pony replied.

“Applejack, scour things from the ground with Rarity. Rainbow dash will let you know if theirs something to take note of.” Twilight said.

“Ya got it, Twi.” The orange mare replied.

'Pinkie pie, I need you to try and find some high ground use use some binoculars to keep an eye out.” Twilight said.

“okie dokie lokie!” The pink pony replied.

“Ok, everypony. Fan out. Let's find those fillies!” Twilight said, the others nodding swiftly, before darting off to do their separate jobs. Twilight turned around, and Spotted Whiplash.

“Now that you've got a free moment, I need some parchment, and a quill, if you can spare some” Whiplash said.

“Uh, for what?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Is it overly important? I just want to get some things written down.” Whiplash replied, trying to speed things up.

“Um... OK, how much do you need?” Twilight finally asked, opening the saddlebags she was wearing with her magic,

“A single quill, inkwell, and at least 4 sheets of parchment.” Whiplash listed off quickly. Twilight noticed his haste, but complied. Four medium-sized sheets of parchment drifted out of her saddlebags, surrounded in her magical aura, followed by a single inkwell and quill.

“Here you go.” Twilight said. Whiplash grabbed the objects with his own magic.

“Thank you.” Whiplash said, before turning and moving at a gallop back to the alley.

<><><><><>

It took him a while to get his bearings straight. But soon, he returned to the alley. Whiplash took a moment to catch his breath. “OK, I'm back.” he said between breaths. Once more, the familiar presence came back, surrounding him. Good, they had stayed. He pulled up a nearby empty box with his magic, and set it down, placing a sheet of parchment and the quill and inkwell on top. He held back the rest of the sheets above his head. “Ok, first, I need a list of names. Whoever I spoke to last, if they are still here, go ahead and jot down the names of everypony here.” Whiplash explained.

Some prints approached the box, and he released his hold on the quill. After a moment, the quill lifted into the air, flipped around a bit, and then began to scribble away at the parchment, pausing occasionally. Eventually, there was a list of twelve different names. “Alright, now, I need to know exactly what happened. Assuming you know, that is.” Whiplash put on a reassuring smile. The quill was picked back up.

“Hold on. I need to get everyponys view.” It spelled out. Whiplash nodded and patiently waited. A few minutes later, the quill resumed writing.

“Most of us were asleep. Sweetie belle says she was awake. She says she felt like she was underwater for a moment. That's all we know.” The words slowly appeared on the parchment. Whiplash nodded.

“Whatever the case, something happened that's made you all completely imperceptible to other ponies, save for physical contact.” Whiplash explained.

“How do we fix it?” The quill spelled.

“I don't know how to fix it, exactly. I'm not capable of making you visible, but I can get the message across that you are all OK.” Whiplash brought the next two sheets up, and ripped them each into six equal strips. He hovered them around himself.

“Alright, everypony get a single strip of parchment. Write down a message, something short that will let your families know your safe.” Whiplash said. For every sheet that was tugged on, he released his magic hold on it. He watched as one by one, the individual strips were brought to the box, and had short messages scribbled on them.

On the parchment on the box, a question was scribbled. “Can we go with you?”

“That might not be wise until we can figure out how to restore you.” Whiplash regretfully said after a moment. “they may think you’ve become ghosts or something like that, and that would cause a panic. Better to try and keep a low profile.” Whiplash advised.

“We can't just sit here.” Was scribbled on the last bit of remaining space on that side of the parchment. Whiplash flipped it over.

“No, you shouldn't stay still. But stay close to here. And stay together. You can all see each other, right?” Whiplash asked, trying to make sure his assumption was correct.

“Yes” Was scribbled on the note.

“Well, then, stick together. Stay close to this area, and keep a low profile. Ration whatever food you find.” Whiplash said. “I'll check up as often as I can. But if anypony finds out that I know where you are, I could wind up in a lot of trouble, so I'm going to have to keep this quiet, which also means my visits might not be very frequent.” Whiplash looked around, trying to find a good indicator.

“Whenever the sun is just above that roof over there, where it is now, assemble here. If I don't show up for an hour, resume normal activity. Otherwise, I'll be here to give you an update, and get an update from you” Whiplash said.

“Promise you'll stick with this?” Was scribbled on the parchment. Whiplash hesitated, remembering the last time he'd made a promise. It hadn't ended well at all. However, he needed to keep their spirits high.

“I promise.” He finally said. He felt something wrap around him, and he figured out he was being hugged. With a warm smile, he returned it with a single hoof.

“Stay safe, now. I need to deliver your messages.” He said. The weight left his neck, and he stood tall. Turning, he walked back out into the streets, and looked at the twelve different messages he needed to deliver.

“I've got this.” He muttered to himself, as he examined the first message.

It read:

Rarity,

Try not to worry too much. I'm OK, but I may be a bit delayed in coming home. Luckily, somepony is looking out for me. Ill be home as soon as I possibly can.

-Sweetie belle.

Whiplash gave his tail a flick. “Yeah, I got this... I can do this. I won't mess this up.” He shook himself a bit, and started walking.

Fire

It had been a few hours since Whiplash had set out to deliver the messages. In truth, it was going better than expected. He didn’t knock on the doors, nor did he talk to those he delivered to. He merely slipped the message under the door when he was certain that he had found the right household, and then took off before he was spotted. He had delivered almost all of the messages at this point. Whiplash peered at the sky as he trotted briskly down the street, trying to estimate the time. The sun was starting to set. He had a bit more time to finish his deliveries. He needed to be careful, however. He was certain that his pattern was starting to be noticed, which also meant that sooner or later questions would get asked.

Trudging along to bring his last message to where it needed to be, he noticed his headache was starting to resurface, and groaned. What was up with this headache? It seemed to show up at random, particularly when he was mad or frustrated. It was getting worse quickly, sending spikes of pain along his skull, beating his eyes, and stinging his ears. He raised a hoof to his head, as though somehow that would quell the pain. The headache finally leveled out, and stayed at a single level. It was still very painful. Moaning in pain, Whiplash stumbled as he took his next step. He fell off to his side, and collided rather harshly with a crate housing a lantern. The crate toppled, and the lantern fell to the side, and shattered on the ground.

Dazed, and in pain, Whiplash curled up into a ball, cradling his head in his hooves. The headache flared in intensity. He yelped at the sudden increase in pain, and then started to whimper as his body began to tremble. He was zoning out completely. His mind began to fluctuate to different topics, images, memories, and more. It rapidly shifted, slowly starting to focus on painful memories. Suddenly, the flashing memories lingered, halting on an image of a raging fire, tall, hot, and scorching. Crackling and licking away at a tall building, the flames consumed everything in their path.

They spread across the grass, and began to lick up his line of sight, causing him to scream in pain. He thrashed, and rolled, trying to get the infernal fires off of him, but to no avail. They wrapped around him like ropes, and reduced him to ashes. That was when he snapped back to reality. He basically woke up, panting, sweaty, and terrified. He slowly curled up into a tight ball, and wept. He was vaguely aware of a presence above him. Whiplash slowly turned his gaze up, and saw a pony looking at him with worried, yet at the same time, almost frightened eyes. He didn’t bother to memorize colors; he curled back up, and continued to cry the fear and pain out of his system.

They were quiet, contained sobs, but were still audible. Whiplash could make out the pony above him speaking. “Are you OK?”

He choked down a rather harsh sob, swallowed the lump in his throat, but didn’t answer. After what felt like an eternity, he regained his composure, and slowly stood on trembling legs. There were a few ponies around him, giving him worried looks. He honestly didn’t care what they saw, or what they thought of it, he still had a job to do. He took a few uneasy steps past the crowd. His headache remained. The question from before was repeated; “Are you OK?”

Whiplash sighed, and looked back to the small group of ponies. “I’ll be fine.” He said flatly. With a slight shake of his body to recompose himself, he started walking. The last house was easy enough to zero out by asking around a bit, and the last message was delivered. He slipped the slip of paper under the door, and walked away. The headache remained with him as he re-entered the park he called home. It had dulled a bit, but it was still there, causing his head to spike with pain every time his blood pumped through it. He settled himself down under his tree. His eyelids became heavy. With a heavy sigh, sleep took him into its cool embrace.

<><><><><>

“You’re getting better.” I said, whipping some sweat off of my brow. “But you still have a ways to go.” We had been training with each other for a while now. Five whole days with Lavender and her brother, and they were getting progressively better at this. I was also getting better at reading, though using my mouth to use any form of writing utensil was a bit more challenging to me. I stretched and let my body relax.

Lavender sighed and sat down on her haunches. “You really know your stuff.” She panted. She looked to her brother. “You ok, Autumn?”

Autumn leaf, her brother with his yellowish coat and a red mane, looked back to his sister. “I’ve had worse.”

“We all have.” I added. “Every day is a struggle for us.”

Lavender stood back up, and looked to me. “It was. But we’re here, now. Celestia and Luna are fighting back with all they have to keep us safe. Here, we don’t have anything to worry about.”

“What’s rule number one?” I asked. Lavender thought for a second, before answering me.

“Never let your guard down.” She said, looking down.

“In saying that we have nothing to worry about, you are dropping your guard. You’re letting a false sense of security take hold of your state of mind.” I explained. “So, don’t put too much faith in our defenders. Be ready to fight for yourself, if need be.” Lavender nodded slowly.

“Ok, right…” She stood back up on shaking legs. We’d been at this for a few hours at this point. I figured it was time for a break.

I shook myself, and trotted slowly over to the small station we’d set up in this abandoned room. It wasn’t exactly bursting with food, but it had enough to keep us satisfied. I sighed and sat down. What was that noise? It was a deep rumbling, barely audible. But it was getting louder. I began to feel nervous as the ground started to vibrate. What was going on? Suddenly, a horn sounded. I turned to Lavender. “Well, speak of the devil.” I commented. Autumn leaf looked around fearfully.

“What’s happening?” He asked.

“Oh no… that’s the alarm horn! We’re under attack!” Lavender said, trembling. I could see the worry in her eyes. I nodded.

“Alright, we aren’t soldiers. We need to get to the assembly hall. If what I remember is anything to go off of, the pony sisters will be getting everypony who isn’t able to fight out of here. I explained, and stood back up. Truth be told, I was terrified. But I wasn’t about to show these two who had shown me such kindness in the last few weeks that I was afraid. Their morale had to stay intact.

We burst into the open hallway, and made a mad dash for the main hall. As we ran, repeated shakes and loud booms and alarmed cries echoed through the corridors. The main halls doors were coming into clear view. ‘Almost there.” I panted. We entered the room, and stopped dead in our tracks. I would have hid. I would have run. But I knew it would be useless. There before me, his side facing me was Hopelock. And towering over him was a creature that caused my blood to turn to ice with fear. A creature I had only ever been close to once, and barely lived through the experience. Before me, towering above hopelock, was the being of darkness and spirit of chaos, as well as Equestrias primal ruler, Discord. A single, red pupil looked knowingly in my direction, before flicking forwards again.

“Hopelock, we have some uninvited guests to this little meeting. Do deal with them, if you would be so kind?” Discord said. Hopelock turned to me and my two friends. His mouth twisted into a wicked grin, and his eyes narrowed. His prized weapon, a thorny whip, unraveled form his side, encased in a red aura. It extended, allowing me to see its full, deadly length. “It’s been a while… Hasn’t it, whiplash?”Hopelock asked, chuckling. I took a step back, a cold sweat covering my body.

“Run.” I said. Plain and simple. We may know the basics of fighting, but against an enemy like Hopelock, we were hopelessly outclassed.

“What?” Autumn asked. “Why? We can take him.” He said the confidence evident in his voice.

“Autumn, WAIT!” Lavenders hushed voice turned into a scream as Autumn darted forwards. I channeled magic through my horn, and sent it out to try and grab and pull Autumn leaf away from Hopelock. The whip lashed out. I almost had him. The whip was faster. Autumn gasped as the thorny whip wrapped around his neck. Time seemed to slow down. My magic reached him before I could pull it back, and he was encased in my aura. Hopelock’s smirk deepened, and he yanked the whip. I tried desperately to release my hold. However, I was too slow. The whips thorns dug harshly and deeply into Autumns throat. I released my magical hold, and he dropped to the ground with an audible THUMP!

All was still. I slowly glared back up at Hopelock. Another life lost… because I was too slow. Because I couldn’t react in time. Because my fear strangled me, and made me stumble in the harshness of the situation. My face began to twitch with rage. “No…” Lavender choked out.

“Don’t make the same mistake.” I warned, my voice a growl. “We run.”

“Where?” Hopelock chuckled, stepping over his newest victim. “You know you can’t run. Blue Waltz couldn’t either. Nopony can run from me.” At the mention of Blue waltz, my mind froze. He was using her name as a tool to try and strike fear into me. But all he managed, was rage. Indescribable loathing, and pure hatred. My horn lit up. “You dare… use her name… against me?” I asked. Hopelocks smile deepened. “You DARE… After what you DID… speak of HER!?” My voice was rising. I snapped. My body acted on instinct alone.

“I WILL KILL YOU!” I screamed, and sent the strongest blast of magic I could at Hopelock. I poured all of my hatred, all of my fear and sorrow, and all of my guilt into the attack. The force of the shot knocked me back, sending me back through the door. I didn’t see the blast strike home, but I knew it hit its mark. A loud explosion rang out, and I could hear an agonized scream come from Hopelock. Inwardly, I smiled. That had felt good.

I stood, and charged back into the room. Hopelock was still standing, though he appeared to be gasping for breath, and in a lot of pain. I didn’t give him a chance to recover, but instead launched a barrage of magic at my foe. The blasts were not nearly as strong as the first, and many missed, but those that didn’t made Hopelock cry out and stagger away. I could feel my reserves dwindling. If I didn’t kill Hopelock now, I would have no means of defending myself form whatever attacks he would launch at me.

I let out another scream as I poured more of my emotion into one, final attack. I felt the energy gather on my horn, and then I let it fly. Another explosion, this one I could see. I heard Hopelock cry out again. Smoke and dust billowed outwards from the point of Impact. I staggered, trying and failing to keep decent balance. I suddenly fell, gasping raggedly for breath. Everything was hazy. I overdid it. Badly. I tried to stand, but my legs refused to respond. I hoped That Hopelock was dead. Else this day would be getting much worse.

<><><><><>

Whiplash stirred in his sleep, groaning as he tried to open his eyes. Something was undeniably wrong, he could feel it. A strange feeling nagged at him, like a tug, alongside of the horrible headache. He could also hear movement all around him, hurried hoof steps and distant cries of alarm. He lifted his head, and tiredly opened his aching eyes. It was dark out. Easily in the middle of the night. However, something bright was in the distance. It flickered and waved, casting brilliant orange and yellow light all around.

Fire. Whiplashes eyes suddenly shot wide open. There was a fire not far away, encompassing an entire building, and spreading to others. Ponies were desperately trying to bring water buckets to the forefront, trying to douse and slow the fires spread, but to no avail. It continued tirelessly, and relentlessly, devouring the houses in licking arks of yellow embers. Whiplash slowly got to his feet, his joints creaking in protest. He stumbled slightly as the headache flared. E heard cries of surprise, and the fires suddenly became far more audible. He looked up, and saw that the fire had flared dramatically, growing in size. That’s when Whiplash heard it. From within the fire, and raging inferno, a cry of terror.

“Somepony’s in there!” A pony shouted. Whiplash watched, trying to keep his headache under control. He wanted desperately to help, but he had no way of doing so. His ears fell, and he took a step away. To him, it was clear that he was powerless. The headache flared, and something exploded. Whiplash wasn’t sure what, but he could only assume it was a gas lamp. Flames burst into the air, and faded away as they descended towards the ground.

“Watch out!” A voice called. Whiplash tensed, and looked around. Nothing was in plain sight, yet his mind was raising red flags. Before he could move, a hot, heavy weight struck him from behind and above, crushing him into the earth. He cried out in surprise, and that surprise quickly turned to agony. Something was burning his back, and it was heavy, preventing him from running. He quickly collapsed to the ground, and could not get back up. The heat grew more intense, causing him to scream in pain.

He felt around with his magic, trying to get a hold on whatever it was pinning him down, but the pain completely dispelled his concentration. He gasped and screamed again as he felt his fur begin to burn, and the realization dawned on him that he was catching on fire. Several unicorns were gathered around him, trying to lift the heavy mass off of him with their magic. But their efforts were slow, despite how many of them there were. Whiplash began to feel faint as the pain hit a crescendo. The world began to spin, his eyes became heavy, his breath became ragged, and irregular. The flames spread rapidly, coating more of his body in its deadly licks. He closed his eyes, ready to just give up.

A cry of joy sounded. Whiplash heavily lifted his eyelids, and spotted something. It was a dark mass looming over him, up in the air. It suddenly began to fluctuate, and water fell upon him, drowning out the flames, and also drowning out his consciousness.

Help

“Will he be ok?” A female voice said. Whiplash knew the voice, but his mind was too fuzzy to connect any names.

“He should be. Everything seems to be in check, aside from the damaged skin.” Another voice said. Whiplash recognized it as well. His mind began to clear, allowing him to attach names to voices.

“Oh thank goodness. Does he need any further attention, or can I take it from here?” The first voice, Twilight asked. Whiplash groaned as sensation came back, sending a searing heat through his spine. A brief silence was his one and only response, until the voices resumed speaking.

“I trust you can keep him safe, Twilight. Good luck with the questions.” A door opened, and then closed. Whiplash slowly opened his eyes. His senses were flooded with the bright light, causing him to wince and snap his eyes shut again. He groaned once more, and tried once more to open his eyes. He glanced over when his eyes adjusted, and saw Twilight sparkle standing next to the bed he was resting on.

He was back in the library in which Twilight resided. “Ugh… Twilight?” he mumbled.

“How are you feeling?” Twilight asked.

“Like my backs been dipped into a pool of lava…” Whiplash groaned out. There was some hushed chatter outside of the room. Twilight glanced in its direction, before turning her attention back to Whiplash.

“You did have a pretty close call.” Twilight sighed. “A part of a flaming building fell on you after it was sent flying by an explosion caused by a fallen lantern.” Twilight trotted over to a chest of drawers, and opened one of them up. “If it wasn’t for rainbow dash, you’d probably be dead right now.” Twilight concluded. She retrieved with her magic a cloth, and proceeded back over to Whiplash, dipping the cloth into a bucket of water. When she reached him, she rested the cloth on his forehead. Whiplash gasped in surprise at how cold it was.

“You have a fever.” Twilight explained. “You must have fallen ill before the fire.” Whiplash watched the Unicorn going about her work. Something was troubling him.

“Why are you helping me like this?” He asked. Twilight turned a confused expression on him. “I mean, I’m grateful. I just… I’m not accustomed to anyone but my closest of friends helping me.” He said. Twilight sighed.

“There are a few reasons.” Twilight shook her head.

“Like?” Whiplash pushed.

“Well… I guess… I don’t know. I just wanted to help. Another reason is I need to ask you something.” Twilight said, pausing every here and there, trying hard to pick her words carefully. Whiplash nodded slowly.

“What kind of question is it?” he asked slowly.

“Do you know anything about the missing foals?” Twilight asked, her uncertain look changing to a much more serious one. Whiplash gulped. Somehow, he knew the question had to do with that.

“Uh…” He dumbly groaned out. “I… Well… Ugh, I know a little bit.” He finally said. Twilight leaned in a bit.

“Really? What do you know?” Twilight asked quickly.

“I know that they are still alive, and are in Ponyville. They are also… Not perceivable mentally. They can’t be seen, heard, smelled. Only felt by physical contact. If you want to know how I know that, it’s because I found them.” Whiplash admitted, figuring it would be best to just reveal what he knew. Twilights eyes widened.

“They aren’t perceivable…?” She muttered.

“Exactly. I may not be the most knowledgeable when it comes to magic, but I do know that such spells are possible.” Whiplash replied.

“But… Nopony in this town could have cast a spell like that.” Twilight said, her voice growing frustrated. “I should know, Even I can’t.” She looked back up at Whiplash. “Well, I am willing to believe you. After all, the parents of all the missing foals recently got a surprise mail delivery at their doorstep, messages from their missing foals. And it was confirmed to be their writing, so they are safe at least.”

“Do you have any more questions?” Whiplash asked. Twilight looked at him skeptically.

“Well, no…” the room fell silent. Twilight started fidgeting, pawing at the floor with her hoof.

Eventually, Whiplash sighed. “Well, if you have no other questions, I’d like to be alone with my thoughts.” He said, turning over slightly. His back stung horribly, but he ignored it. He could still feel Twilight looking at him, and began to grow uneasy. Finally, Twilight sighed, and left the room. Whiplash closed his eyes, and fell back into slumber.

<><><><><>

“You’re sure you’re going to be OK?” Lavender asked for the umpteenth time. I nodded as I fit on my helmet. The war was in full swing. We’d been able to drive off the besiegers at the castle, but Hopelock had survived. I shivered slightly as I remembered the look in his eyes. Now, it was our turn to go on the offensive. Discords palace in the sky was waiting for us, beckoning us to tear it form its perch, and be rid of that chaotic overlord.

“I’ll be fine, Lav.” I replied, shifting the helmet atop my head into a more comfortable position. After what had happened to Autumn, I had devoted myself to the fight, mainly to protect Lavender. She was the only friend I had left, and she and I had learned so much from each other. I wasn’t about to let it all go to waste. She wanted to fight with me, but she didn’t quite make the cut, and was instead assigned to help with aiding the wounded. Lavender nodded solemnly.

“Just… be careful, Lash. I don’t want anything to happen to you…”She rested a hoof around my neck, and hugged me close. I returned the gesture.

“Hey, even if I get wounded, I’ll have you there to help me in no time.” I smiled broadly at her. She nodded, forcing a smile in return. We broke the embrace, and I made my way out of the simple armory tent. The massive camp sprawled out over the fields in front of me. Every pony, mare, and stallion, had assembled under Luna and Celestia to launch an all-out assault on Discords towering floating throne. His chaotic capital floating above us, filled with strangeness beyond description.

Somewhere, a horn sounded. I turned my attention back towards Lavender, who stared at me with concern all to evident on her features. I nodded slowly. She nodded as well. I took off at a gallop to find my group. The battle-plan was simple. Luna and Celestia would take the front, and ascend upwards through the former pegasi, now turned mindless husks, that surrounded the floating islands. They would be surrounded on all sides by Pegasus-drawn carriages, which would have squads of earth ponies for the battle on the island itself, accompanied by unicorns to aid in support, healing, and ranged combat.

We’d be attacking from all angles and not give the enemy a hint of breathing room. This was the plan, but I had the feeling it wouldn’t be as simple as it sounded. After all, discord was anything but predictable. It took me a little while, but I managed to find the group to which I was assigned. Four pegasi dominated the front, having the carriage tied to them, while the carriage itself was filled with four earth ponies, and three unicorns. I hopped into the back. Now all we needed to do was wait for the second, and third horn blasts. Once we heard the third, the attack would begin.

Seconds ticked by like minutes, and minutes like hours. Finally, the second horn sounded. We closed the back of the carriages, and began to conjure up our shields to protect ourselves. Every carriage would have a temporary shield to ward off attackers, to allow us to gain as much ground as possible before actually needing to fight.

Finally, it happened; the third horn sounded. Every carriage shot up, following the two opposing colored lights of dark blue and bright white. I narrowed my eyes.

The battle had begun.

<><><><><>

Whiplash slowly cracked his eyes open. He was still in Twilight's library, still laying down in that bed, still with that horrible burning back, and still pondering a great many things. He heaved a sigh, and took in his surroundings a bit more closely. A window was adjacent to him, letting in noon sun-rays. There were vast bookshelves, filled neatly and tidily with a large amount of books. Whiplash glanced out the window. Ponyville was still as chirpy as cheerful as ever. All of the ponies outside mingling about, taking care of their everyday affairs.

Whiplash knew this wasn't the same Equestria he had left. Well, it was the same one, it was just so vastly different now that he didn't recognize it. He seriously began to contemplate how he had come to be here, the possibilities of what brought him here. It also began to sink in just how life for him was changed. He had departed from a world filled with misery and seemingly never ending chaos, and now he was in a world of peace and prosperity, filled with smiles and bright colors, and order.

As that finally began to sink in, fully, for the first time, he couldn't help but let out the biggest smile he had made in years. He was free. He was safe. He was alive. But he was also alone. His smile faded as he realized that. He had no friends, no allies. He had been struggling to get by ever since he crashed here. Whiplash shook his head, trying in vain to dispel the dark thought pattern that began to seep into his mind. Before he could do very much, his entire train of thought got shattered as the door opened. Twilight sparkle stepped in, wearing a warm smile.

“Feeling any better?” she asked.

“A bit.” Whiplash replied, shifting in place. His back stung in protest, but he ignored it. He looked over at Twilight, who now bore a serious look. The weight of her expression was enough to make Whiplash feel uneasy.

“Uh, is something wrong?” Whiplash asked, shifting uncomfortably.

“The foals are still vanished. And apparently, they're getting scared. Near as I can tell, they've been trying to communicate with other ponies, and a rumor is going rampant that ghosts are haunting the town.” Twilight said. Whiplash groaned.

“What do you expect me to do about it?” Whiplash asked after a moment of Twilight staring intently at him.

“I expect you to at least try and help.” Twilight said. “After all, you do seem to know more about what happened to them than anypony else, and everypony is getting scared.” Whiplash looked at Twilight for several moments.

“On the contrary, I know about as much as you as this point. I know they aren't perceivable, but that's about as far as my knowledge of the situation goes.” Whiplash corrected, tilting his head down and lowering his ears slightly.

“Well, can you at least help me find a way to reverse the spell?” Twilight pressed. Whiplash looked at her, uncertainly. Normally he would say no, but something compelled him to help. He pondered the matter for a second, getting a thoughtful look on his face. Maybe, he thought, this was the time for him to make amends for his mistakes. The chance he needed to do something right for a change. After what felt like an eternity, he slowly turned his gaze to Twilight.

“Ok, fine. I'll help.” He said reluctantly.

“Great! OK, I'll get my books out. We need to find any reference to a spell like this that we can.” Twilight said, suddenly beaming. She pulled a number of books off of the nearby shelf with her magic, and placed them next to Whiplash. “Start flipping through those. I'll head to the main section of the library and conduct my own search. If you find anything in these, call me. If not, come out to where I am, and give me a hoof, OK?” Twilight said rapidly.

“Uh, yeah. OK.” Whiplash said a she turned his eyes down to the twelve or so books by the bed. This was bad. He had never been able to completely learn how to read or write from Lavender. He picked up the nearest book with his magic, and looked over the cover. The book was entitled: “Legends of ancient magic.” Whiplash looked over the book, then flipped it open.

This was going to be a long day, Whiplash decided. But that was fine with him. He finally had the chance to get something right.

Magic

A few hours later, Whiplash stared intently at the book, trying to discern the latest word he had stumbled on. He had read this all with remarkable ease; The terminology had definitely changed, but the meanings were still there, and the writing was less formal or fancy, making the meanings easier to figure out. He still had troubles with words every now and then, and had personally retrieved a dictionary to save time.

With an intense glare, he sounded out the letters to the best of his ability. “Im... Imp-er sea... puh tea ball?” He rolled the word over for a second, before it snapped into place. “Imperceptible!” he quickly read the rest of the name of the legend and the associated spell. “Legend of Imperceptible magics, used by the servants of chaos...” He trailed off. If this was the same spell that was effecting the Foals, that would mean some form of chaos magic was involved. Could followers of Discord still be about? He sincerely hoped not.

He continued reading, pausing only rarely to make sure he knew a certain word from the dictionary at his side. It matched up almost flawlessly. Can't see, hear, smell. Only when a pony makes physical contact can they perceive the one effected by the spell. The only detail that didn't match up, is that it normally only ever effected one individual. The target of the spell. The spell was also so draining to perform that using it many times in rapid succession would be very taxing, possibly even dangerous. The sensation of changing into this state lined up though.

“A brief sensation of being underwater.” He read out, remembering Sweetie belle mention that she had that sensation before it happened. He read further. Every little detail matched up perfectly with what he had seen and observed. Whiplash eventually folded the corner of the page, closed the book, and hopped out of the bed. His back stung form the sudden movement, but again he ignored it. He trotted quickly to the door, and swung it open.

Twilight was on her couch, staring intensely at her book of choice. Whiplash slowly approached and cleared his throat to announce his presence to her. She jumped slightly, but turned to him. “Find anything?” She asked after a moment.

“Yeah, it matches up with what I know almost perfectly. There's just one detail that doesn't add up right.” Whiplash said,levitating the book over to her,and opening it up to the page he had left it at. Twilight looked it over.

“It's a spell that effects the user...” She mumbled, and took over the books levitation with her own magic. Holding it up, she studied the page, face lighting up briefly, before her expression shifted to one of irritation. “Theirs no reference of a counter spell.” she said.

“I know, which troubles me. Since its a spell that effects the caster only, its removed either when the caster dismisses it, or it wears off or is disenchanted. But we're dealing with a large group of foals.” Whiplash said. “And not all of them are Unicorns, and this sort of spell demands knowledge of chaos.” Whiplash added.

“So, its a step in the right direction, then.” Twilight muttered. Whiplash nodded slowly. “I have no idea what our next move should be, though. I mean, All of the books I've read only have basic invisibility spells.” she added, her voice getting irritated in tone. Whiplash looked to the book again.

“Hey,Twilight? I noticed something.” Whiplash said slowly, gently taking the book back into his aura, and sitting on his haunches. Looking into the book, he continued. “This spell dates back to over a thousand years ago. That was when Discord was in power, right?” He asked.

“Yeah, why?” Twilight asked.

“Well, from what I know, discords followers used mainly chaos magic. A form of magic, which, to my understanding, is almost never used these days. What does that mean, do you think?” Whiplash asked, seriously pondering the question.

“I can only assume that somepony is practicing chaos magic. It would make sense, Given discords brief return a little while back.” Twilight explained. Whiplash froze. Twilight noticed pretty quickly just how still he was, and went to speak when he cut her off.

“Discord came back?” Whiplash asked in a trembling voice. This was a piece of information he had definitely missed.

“Well, yeah. He caused a lot of destruction and wrecked a lot of stuff with all of the chaos he spread around.” Twilight added. She noticed how Whiplash seemed to have deflated slightly. “Luckily we dealt with him.” She added, smiling slightly at the memory of watching Discord get encased in stone. She normally didn't approve of harming others, But Discord brought it on himself.

“Dealt with him?” Whiplash asked incredulously. “How can one simply deal with a spirit of chaos!? And how can you talk about it so casually?”

“We used the elements of harmony. It banished him to a prison of stone.” Twilight said, growing a little unnerved by Whiplash's sudden behavior.

“Elements of harmony...?” Whiplash asked. That sounded familiar, but he couldn't put his hoof on where he might have heard it before. “So, Discords gone now? He won't come back?ever?”

“Not for any of our lifetimes, at least.” Twilight said. Whiplash slowly nodded, and relaxed.

“Ok... that's a relief.” He said. Twilight eyed him. She opened her mouth and closed it a few times, as though trying to formulate a question. Finally, she abandoned whatever she wanted to ask, and brought the book back over to her with her magic.

“Let's get back on track, We still need to find something that can counteract the spell.” Twilight said.

“Right.” Whiplash mumbled, and trotted over and the two begin to study the book.

<><><><><>

Twilight flipped through the last of her notes, biting the inside of her cheek, and carefully studying the instructions laid out on the sheet of parchment. Whiplash stood idly off to the side, looking out over the town from the window. Twilight's horn slowly lit up with her characteristic aura. “Ok... Let's see how well this works...” The glow gradually intensified, and she directed it at an orange which rested atop of a stool. Whiplash turned his attention to the orange.

“Be careful. Chaos magic is dangerous, to say the least.” Whiplash warned, eying the slow distortions around Twilight's horn.

“Don't worry. I think I've got it.” Twilight assured, though the strain entering her voice and features was counteracting to the statement. She twitched her ears, and her face scrunched up as her spell began to take effect. The orange suddenly distorted, warped, and seemed to twist the air around it, before vanishing. Whiplash's eyes widened at the sight, or lack-their-of. Twilight wiped her brow. “whew... That was tougher then I thought it'd be.” Twilight gasped. Whiplash beamed.

“Be that as it may, it's time to test our counter-spell. I'll cast it. You rest up.” Whiplash advised, standing beside her. Twilight nodded, and stepped aside. Whiplash glared to the invisible orange. “Here we go...” He muttered. They had spent hours looking at various books, trying to find a counter-spell, and they eventually found a universal dispel enchantment spell. It worked to dispel any magic that effected anything for a prolonged period. How much power you put into it determined how strong the counter-spell would be.

Whiplash grunted, ignited his horn, and looked over the book and notes that were now on the floor next to him. He then turned his gaze to the orange. He began to channel his magic into the invisible object. He felt it, and began to channel the magic to do what he willed. His face contorted with concentration, and he felt the spell beginning to slip. Cursing under his breath, he channeled even more power into it, and finally, much to his relief, the orange reappeared. He quickly cut the flow of magic, and stumbled slightly.

“Ok, so we know that works...” he mumbled. His ears lay flat against his head. That was harder then he expected. Twilight nodded.

“Alright, now we just need to figure out how we can get this spell strong enough to effect an entire group of foals.” Twilight said, voice trailing off. Whiplash turned to face her.

“No easy task. Any ideas?” He panted. Twilight nodded.

“I think so. It's a kind of spell that can only be used on another unicorn. It amplifies whatever spell they are currently casting, giving spells a large power boost. This effect can be layered on, which means that if you have a unicorn amplify another unicorn, who is amplifying a third unicorn, it will possibly double the effect.” Twilight explained, bringing a book off of a nearby shelf with her magic.

Whiplash trotted over and peered at the pages as Twilight flipped through them. She paused at a pager which detailed the spell in question. They sat down, and began to study the pages contents. After a short while, Whiplash piped up. “Whose going to help us power this thing?”

“I'm not sure. I mean, Rarity is good with magic, but barely uses it for anything other then helping with her job.” Twilight said.

“And what's her job?” Whiplash asked.

“Simple enough, really. She's a fashion designer. Nothing really all that taxing.” Twilight said, jotting something down on her notes.

“I see...” Whiplash pondered for a moment. For a moment he drew a blank, Then an idea bloomed. “I have an idea.” He said.

“What is it?” Twilight inquired curiously.

“We can send out a notice. Get all of the unicorns in town to gather, try and teach them the spell. Once they've got it down, you cast the spell to make the foals come back, and have all of the other unicorns amplify each other, and you.” whiplash suggested, and a large smile began to sneak onto Twilights face as he spoke.

“That is a great idea, Whiplash! All we need to do is call for a town meeting of all the unicorns in town at town hall!” Twilight exclaimed happily. Whiplash smiled and nodded.

“Shall we get a move on, then?” Whiplash asked. Twilight turned her gaze on him, and nodded.

“Yes, let's go!” She beamed. They left the Library tree house, and trotted down the streets towards town hall. The two stayed quiet as they went. The rest of the ponies in town muttered quietly to each other about various things, mostly about the rumors of ghosts. Twilight made turns through the town which was still being mapped out in Whiplash’s mind, so thusly, he just followed her. Eventually, the town hall came into view. The mayor was outside already, speaking to a small group of ponies.

Twilight paused until the three trotted off, each one looking troubled. “Mayor Mare!” Twilight said as she approached. Whiplash took note of the name.

“Ah, Twilight sparkle. Have you made any progress?” The mayor asked.

“Actually, yes, we did. We found a spell that can make the foals come back!” Twilight said, and Whiplash nodded in response.

“Yes. The only problem is the spell is incredibly difficult to perform on something as small as an orange. So using it on a large group of Foals isn’t exactly an easy option.” He added, and the Mayors face darkened.

“Then what are we supposed to do?” she asked.

“We found another spell. It amplifies the effect of another spell being cast, and the effects can layer up.” Twilight replied, her voice filled with determined confidence.

“So we bring all of the unicorns in town together, give them the spell, and have them amplify each other, and the one at the end of the chain is amplifying Twilight. Then she casts the spell to get the foals back, and it should work.” Whiplash finished. Twilight nodded firmly. The mayor looked between the two. Before anymore words could be shared, however, Whiplash suddenly grunted, bringing a hoof to his head. His legs began to tremble.

“Whiplash? Are you OK?” Twilight asked, looking at him with worried eyes. Whiplash suddenly cried out In pain, falling onto his side, writhing in agony.

“What's wrong with him!?” The mayor asked, taking a step back.

“I don't know!” Twilight replied, unsure of what to do. Whiplash screamed once more, before falling still, unconscious.

<><><><><>

I have no idea how it happened, but our force had been decimated by the enemy. Only a handful of carriages made it past the husk-like pegasi, and most of the survivors were too tired upon landing to properly defend themselves. We had underestimated our foes. Celestia and Luna had forged ahead, hoping to find and eliminate discord. I watched from my vantage point on the floating island that served as discords home as the encampment below was swiftly picked apart by enemy pegasi and unicorns.

“Darn it all...” I mumbled to nopony in particular. I was lucky to be alive at this point. Not far away, a small group of husks were laying dead on the ground. “Better them then me...” I whispered, though regretted it immediately. They had once had minds of their own, and been free of mind. They had a will, though exercising it is what led to these empty, emotionless husks.

I turned and began my slow, pained trot towards the heart of this capital of chaos. I passed my fair share of oddities on my way. A streak of pinkish-red lightning cracked the sky around me, sending a batch of four-eyed crows flying. I ignored the disturbance. There was a sense of urgency,a nagging sensation that drew me onwards. As I rounded the next corner, my breath caught, my heart skipped a beat, and my mind shut-down.

Up ahead, I saw Hopelock dismissing a husk pegasus, and standing over a Lavender mare. His whip was being unraveled, it's long thorns standing out ominously. “Lav!” I shouted, charging my horn. Hopelock turned to me,a smirk playing it's way onto his features. His whip lashed out, and caught Lav around the throat. She yelped in surprise, fear, and pain. Before I knew it, he was holding her up in front of himself, facing me. His smirk widened, and I saw the look in his eye. That look... That was the look he got when he began to go into one of his psychotic episodes. I recomposed myself, and took a step forward. “Let her go, Hopelock!” I shouted.

“Why should I?” He asked simply. His smirk faded, replaced by a serious frown.

“She's innocent, and done nothing to you. She has done nothing to deserve this!” I say, putting as much venom into my voice as possible.

“Innocent? Ha! This little fool turned her back on the true nature of the world.” Hopelock chuckled, tightening his whips grip on Lavenders throat. Her eyes were beginning to roll back into her head.

“You will. Put. Her. DOWN!” I snapped out each word like a bark, practically shouting out the last one. Hoeplock smiled.

“I see you too have turned your back on the true order of things- Or lack-their-of. Maybe you need a reminder...” he tosses lavender aside, and she crashed a little ways away. I began to make a beeline for her, but Hoeplock suddenly teleported between me and her.

“Move!” I snarled.

“Make me.” Hopelock replied. I screamed with anger, and fired a blast of magic at him. He sidestepped, and I watched as the blast struck Lavender. My mind froze. She was out cold. The crater-like area in which we resides seemed to disappear around me as I watched what happened. After several moments, my mind caught up with me. Rage began to boil my very being.

I turned slowly to Hopelock. “You should've taken that hit, instead of running like the coward that you are.” I said darkly. Hopelock readied his whip. “I've let you live too many times!” My voice raised to a shout, and my horn ignites. “I won't make that mistake again!” A primal scream escaped me as I tilted my head down, and fired another blast.

Hopelock, I had decided, would die. Here, and now.

Counter-Spell

Fire coursed through my veins to compliment the adrenaline. My mind was locked down as I conjured a shield to defend myself. A blast of red magic struck it, sending a spider-web of cracks along the barrier. The second the blast was gone, I dissipated the shield, and charged forwards, horn igniting. Hopelock manipulated his whip with expertise, and swung it down at me. I sidestepped, and fired my charged magical blast.

Hopelock was ready, and deflected the blast with a powerful ward. His horn glowed brightly, and he suddenly teleported, vanishing with a loud pop. I narrowed my eyes, and stepped back, glancing in all directions. We'd been fighting for a few minutes, and so far, he had the upper hand. I was conserving my energy, trying to draw out Hopelocks sense of superiority, so that I could use his overconfidence against him, and eliminate him.

Easier said then done. He was just as cautious in this fight as I was, and my ability to fool him into that state of mind was limited. I heard the loud Pop behind me, and whirled, just in time to receive a hard lash from Hopelocks whip across the chest. I stifled my scream as the whip dug a long crimson mark along my coat. I staggered back, conjuring my shield, and watched as it cracked under the force of a massive blast of magic strong enough to shatter boulders.

I winced as I struggled to repair the shattering shield. Another blow came, and it shattered completely, shards of magic fading into the air. I scrambled back, trying to get back on my hooves, when Hopelocks whip leashed itself around my neck, and lifted me into the air. It constricted my airflow, and I felt myself losing strength as the thorns dug in.

“Sleep now, Whiplash. It's over.” Hopelocks voice could barely be heard. I was falling unconscious. I turned my gaze over to where Lavender was. She was watching, despair lining her features. But she wasn't in any condition to help. I tried to lift a hoof, as though to reach out for her. My eyes were watering, from pain, sorrow, and guilt. I'd let her and her brother down. Because of my weakness, and inability to protect, her entire family line would end here, on this capital of chaos.

That thought, encouraging though as it was to fight back, didn't give me the strength I needed. What did, was the sudden release. Hopelock dropped me. I coughed raggedly, wishing he would just hurry up and kill me already. I looked up, and saw he was staring off into the distance. I looked to where his eyes were, and mine widened. Towards the high peak, a bright light was shining, emitting rainbows and color. I had never seen such a display.

And before I knew it, it was expanding, the islands around us beginning to get sucked into the expanding white sphere. I got on shaky hooves, and ran. I ran as fast as I could. It was only when the blast was consuming me that I realized something.

I had Left Lavender behind...

<><><><><>

Whiplash screamed as he awoke, his mind reeling from the vividly painful memory. He covered his face with his hooves, as the last of the violent headache subsided. He breathed rapidly for a moment, before forcing his mind to relax. He got a hold of his voice and his breathing, and calmed down. After several moments, he slowly opened his eyes. They were met with a thundering downpour. Glancing around, he saw he was still in front of town hall, and Twilight and the mayor were kneeling next to him, concern etched clearly on their features.

“What... Ugh, What happened?” Whiplash groaned, ears flattening back.

“We were hoping you could tell us that.” Twilight said. She looked Whiplash up and down. “you've been out for about five minutes.”

Whiplash tried to stand, but his legs failed him. “Where did this rain come from?” He asked, looking up at the darkened sky.

“I don't know. About the time you collapsed, the weather team suddenly lost control of a storm they were creating.” the mayor pitched in. Whiplash looked up, and indeed saw dozens of Pegasi flying about, trying to get the rampant clouds under control.

“Just what happened to you? Do you know what it is that made you fall like that?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“Well, I know the symptom, but not the actual cause. I got a massive headache, it felt like somepony was stabbing me in the head with a red-hot lance.” Whiplash replied. He looked down, and sighed. “It isn't the first time I've had this headache either.”

“Is their any form of pattern to it?” Twilight asked.

“Not that I can tell. It just kinda comes and goes.” Whiplash replied, and tried again to stand. His attempt was much more successful, but he still fell back down. He was struck by a sudden bout of Dizziness, and held still.

“Well, until the weather is back under control, we can't get the Unicorns assembled. We will just have to wait a little while longer.” The mayor said, earning a glance from Whiplash.

“Whys that?” He asked.

“Well, for one, any fliers would be destroyed by the rain. Secondly, the weather team has called in aid from all of the pegasi in town to help, so getting word around would be slow. We'll have better odds of getting the desired effect once this all clears up.” The mayor explained, earning a sigh from Whiplash.

“Alright... We'll wait.” Whiplash muttered as he finally pulled himself to his feet. As he did, he wobbled slightly, and suddenly fell to the side. Twilight was by him in an instant, catching him before he could fall all the way. Whiplash shook his head slightly to clear his mind, and smiled up at Twilight. “Thank you.” He said.

“You’re welcome.” Twilight replied, returning the smile as she supported him. The two began to slowly walk back towards Twilights library to wait out the storm. The going was slow, but things got faster when Whiplash was finally able to walk by himself. They walked through the rain in silence for several moments. It was Twilight who broke the silence. “You know, I’m curious about something.” She said.

“Like what?” Whiplash asked, giving Twilight a sideways glance.

“It’s your knowledge of how chaos magic works. Where did you learn about that? Chaos magic is so rare to come by, these days.” Twilight asked, giving Whiplash a curious look. Whiplash lowered his gaze, and sighed.

“I… I’d rather not discuss that. It’s something I’m trying to forget.” He said, shaking his head slowly, and ears drooping slightly.

“Oh… ok.” Twilight said apologetically. They continued in silence. The rain was coming down even harder than before, making everything soaking wet. Whiplash knew this part of town. This was pretty close to where he had encountered the foals.

“Hunh… I wonder…” Whiplash looked around, and sure enough, they were passing by the alley. He broke his course in walking with Twilight, and went into the Alley. Twilight noticed his sudden change in course, and paused.

“Uh, Whiplash? The library’s that way.” She said, pointing with a hoof.

“I know.” Whiplash replied. “This alley is where I found the foals the first time around.” He explained, and stopped a little ways in. He didn’t feel anything brushing against him, and felt no other presences. He walked forward slightly, holding out a hoof. Nothing. The foals were not here. “Should have known.” Whiplash murmured, and exited the alley.

Twilight said nothing, and the two continued on to the library in silence.

<><><><><>

Hours later, the storm had subsided. The sun was setting, casting a warm yellow glow everywhere. Twilight had already sent Rainbow dash to spread the word by dropping papers all over town. Whiplash hadn’t been present for that meeting. He had taken it upon himself to deliver word by ground, and set out as soon as they met with the mayor. That had been nearly an hour ago, and now all of the unicorns in town were gathering near town hall. The mayor and Twilight were counting to make sure all of the Unicorns who could make it were present.

During the storm, Whiplash had taken some initiative, and worked tirelessly to learn the amplifier spell. He learned it quickly, and was at present teaching a mint green unicorn named Lyra how to use the spell. “Focus on the spell I’m casting.” He said, channeling his own magic to create a ball of light. “Then channel your magic, and make the two connect. It requires that the one being amplified is receptive to the idea, and wants it to happen.”

Lyra nodded briskly. The ball of light suddenly grew so bright that Whiplash had to shield his eyes. “Ok, ok! You got it!” Whiplash said, stumbling back a bit from the sudden afterimage. When the light faded, he turned his gaze to Lyra. She was beaming happily. “Alright, practice that a few times with another unicorn, then get to work showing it to others here. We need everypony capable of this spell if it’s going to work.” Whiplash explained. Lyra nodded again, and trotted off.

Whiplash watched her go, and turned his attention to the stage, where Twilight was busy instructing a small group of unicorns how to merge the amplification spells. Whiplash turned again, and looked at the short stand Twilight would be using to make herself an easy target for the amplification. Unicorns everywhere were practicing the spell, teaching it to others, and making good progress. The plan was to cast the spell shortly after nightfall.

Time ticked by ever so slowly. Whiplash soon ran out of ponies to teach, and joined Twilight to help keep everything practiced and in order. As the last batch walked away, Whiplash voiced his mind. “You think this will work?” He asked.

“Of course.” Twilight replied. Whiplash remained quiet. Twilight looked at him. “Why do you ask?”

“I don't know. I've just got this funny feeling. My mind is tossing up red flags left and right.” Whiplash stated, looking out over the mass of unicorns. “I think something bad is going to happen when we do this.” Whiplash turned his gaze to Twilight. “I don't know what though.”

Twilight looked at him, and her face twisted slightly into a look of worry. “I... Well, if something backfires, we have countermeasures in place. It'll all be fine.” She said, though her voice sounded a bit uncertain. Whiplash stared at her skeptically.

“Well... alright, let's do this then.” Whiplash let a confident smile snake its way onto his face. Twilight returned the gesture, and turned to the crowd.

“Alright! Is everypony ready!?” She called to the crowd. A chorus of “Yeah” went up. Twilight nodded. “Then get the spell ready. Make a line that leads up to the stand. That's were I'll be. Channel the spell into the unicorn in front of you, and whoever is at the very end of the line, channel it into my spell. We should be able to reverse the spell on the foals if we do this correctly! Let's go!” the crowd erupted into movement.

Soon, the line was formed. Whiplash had assumed his place in the line. Twilight stepped onto her own location atop the stand. Twilight paused, and then said, “Now!” Whiplash ignited his horn, and to the unicorn in front of him. She was nervous at first, but quickly let his spell amplify hers. Down the line the spell went, growing in power. Twilights own horn ignited in her signature purple aura.

The spell finally reached the end of the line, and then met with Twilight. The sudden eruption of pure magic caused everypony to cry out in surprise. A massive blast raced out from the tip of Twilights horn, and engulfed everything. Whiplash closed his eyes against the light, and gritted his teeth. But just as suddenly as the blast came, it vanished. The light faded, and Whiplash opened his eyes. There was a sound, he could hear it. It sounded like hushed talking. He turned his gaze. The ponies around him were silent, they could hear it as well.

Just outside of the plaza was a large gathering of foals, bickering with each other. Whiplash smiled. Twilight came to the front of the crowd, and could barely contain her excitement. “We did it!” She practically shouted. The whole crowd cheered, and a select few rushed forwards towards the foals. Whiplash sighed with relief. They did do it.

But his excitement and joy over it began to dwindle. Something was... off. The back of his scalp was beginning to prickle. He began to look around, paranoia getting the best of him. He turned around, and halted dead in his tracks. “No...” He muttered, voice choking with fear. The red eyes glared back into his from less then twenty paces away. Whiplash froze, and began to visibly tremble. The rest of the crowd was gathered around either Twilight, or the foals.

They paid Whiplash no mind. They paid the pony in front of Whiplash no mind. Whiplash began to breathe rapidly, his mind shutting down. He blinked, trying to refresh his vision. “How?” He was finally able to croak out. The pony ahead of him smiled.

“Exactly the same way as you, my friend.”

“Shut up. We are not friends!” Whiplash retorted. His ears flattened back, and his eyes narrowed.

“We aren't? Oh my, Whiplash. I'm hurt.” The almost black pony smirked.

“Hopelock, what are you doing here!?” Whiplash snapped venomously.

“What am I doing here?” Hopelock lost his frown. “I'm trying to get back home.”

“You don't have one! Discord is gone!” Whiplash almost shouted. The crowd had grown silent. A pony was running up behind Whiplash.

“Whiplash, what's going on? Are you ok?” Twilight asked.

“Twilight, don't get involved.” Whiplash warned. Hopelock scoffed loudly.

“Oh, so now you have a friend?” Hopelock demanded. “Whiplash, have you learned nothing?”

“Enlighten me, what was I supposed to learn!?” Whiplash demanded.

“You are not fit to have friends. You aren't fit to lead. You are an underling, and a slave. A follower, and a nopony.” Hopelock grinned. “And you follow me.”

“I'd sooner die!” Whiplash yelled. Hopelock raised his whip from his side.

“Whiplash, what is-” Twilight didn't finish her sentence. A blast of red magic struck her. Whiplash turned to watch as she flew backwards, eyes widening in shock. Twilight skidded to a stop not far away, groaning in pain.

“Is she your friend? If so, prove to me that you are capable of leading yourself. Defend your fallen friend!” Hopelocks smirk widened as Whiplash slowly turned to face him. “Are you afraid?” Hopelock taunted when Whiplash made no move. Whiplash's eyes burned with an inferno, and suddenly, he screamed. Rage fueled his voice as he charged Hopelock, energy gathering on his horn.

'That's it...” Hopelock turned from his smirk to a serious frown. Whiplash leaped forwards, horn preparing to fire, when Hopelocks whip suddenly lashed across his gut. Whiplash cried out in agony as the thorns dug into his stomach. Hopelock manipulated the whip with his magic, constricting Whiplash in a deadly grip. Whiplash tried to fire a blast at Hopelock, but was cut short as a sudden squeeze drained the awareness from his mind. He fell limp, unconscious.

Hopelock chuckled, and let Whiplash fall from his constraints in the air, letting him hit the ground with a moist thud. By now, the crowd was panicking. Twilight forced herself back to her feet, eyes trained on Hopelock. “Who are you?” She demanded.

“Take my name to heart, young one. I am Hopelock. And Whiplash is my servant. He ran from me, and so I take him back.” Hopelock rested a hoof on top of Whiplash's head. “Are you his friend?” He asked.

“I'd like to think so!” Twilight snarled back, ears flat, teeth bared, and magic gathering on her horn.

“Then know this. In removing him from you're life, I have spared it. There's an odd pattern with Whiplash; every time he has made a friend, they have died shortly after befriending him.” Hopelock channeled his own magic. “You should thank me.” Twilight hesitated, and stared at Hopelock. He suddenly disappeared in a bright red flash, and Whiplash vanished with him.