Time for the next one.
Chapter 14: Cold Lighting
(P.O.V. Soler)
"Man, why are mountains so cold?" Soler said to himself as he trudged through the snow. Soler had made his way to the mountains in a matter of an hour or so with a map. The wind started to pick up and the snow was starting to blow more wildly.
"Man, where did all this wind and snow come from? I can barely see a few feet in front of me." He complained. On his way up the mountain, the sky had been very clear and it was a beautiful sight, the serenity of mountain range. The mountains he was on were located outside of the Crystal Empire. Soler shivered again as the wind blew. "Okay, this is getting weird now. It was pleasant coming up here, but now it's almost like a full blown storm. Where did it come from?" He wondered aloud. As Soler made his way up to the last location Sonic and Rainbow were last heard from, the weather changed so dramatically that it caught him off guard. The weird part is, the more he made his way up the mountain, the worse the storm got. It was so bad he couldn't even tell if he was still going in the right direction.
If Sonic and RD had to face this storm, they might've went into some cave for shelter, He thought. He shivered again as the wind seemed to pick up even more.
"Man… I'm glad that I know how to regulate by body temperature. I mean, if I can breathe in the coldness of space, I can handle this." He started as the wind blew again and cut of his sentence, "But this storm doesn't feel natural." Soler began feeling a strange energy around him, and it wasn't the friendly kind. He stopped in his tracks and tried to feel where the source was coming from, except, the energy seemed to be coming from all around him. He looked around in the storm and then that's when he noticed that it looked like the storm was swirling around him.
"Okay. Now I know this isn't natural weather. Show yourself!" He shouted. The storm was still raging on, almost picking him up, shouting. He shielded his eyes from the snow and tried to look around to see who was causing it. He then started to make out horse-like figures swirling around in the storm.
He created a Chaos Spear and threw it at one of the horses, making direct contact. A pained wail could be heard as it broke formation from the others. The storm didn't die down much, but the rest of the group made themselves visible for him. There were a total of five horses all together,. They were almost ghostly, their lower halves just tails. Soler also noticed their red eyes as they stared at him. He felt a shiver down his spine from all of the cold stares.
"Okay guys, I don't know what it is that I've done to tick you off, but can we stop with all this snow and wind?" He asked. None of the horses made any movements, hovering in place while staring at him. Soler just looked back at them and sighed. Then, one of them charged at him. It wasn't going too fast, so Soler was ready for the attack. Once it was right on him, he swung at it, his punch going right through it as it went through his side. He looked at his fist, then at it. It hovered behind him and stared daggers at him. He was about to open his mouth, only to feel an immense amount of pain coming from where it went through him. The part that it touched felt extremely cold, and then a sharp pain came to him as frozen crystals came out of his side. He yelled in pain and fell to one knee. Soler was breathed hard.
Man ,just one attack and it did this much to me? Plus, I can't touch it, so how am I going to fight back? He thought to himself. He looked back up at it and saw that the others had started to form a circle around him, preparing to attack. He stood up and knocked the crystals off of him.
"So from that first encounter, I'm guessing that you guys are just some sort of embodiment of energy and can manipulate the cold. From what little I've learned about this world, it seems to revolve around magic that is reflected on emotions and from this coldness I guess you guys are powered by negative emotions. Am I right?" He asked them. They didn't reply, but just kept their formation around him and maintained their stares. He sighed.
"Well you guys are chatter boxes, huh? Anyway, let's just get this over with. There are some friends I need to find, and you're in my way." Soler said confidently. That's when they all started to move. But instead of charging at him all at once, they all went back into the storm and circled him like a group of sharks. He stayed on his toes as he waited for an attack. The storm that the creatures created picked up at rapid pace, and it was becoming harder for him to see them, though he could still sense them. He felt one coming from behind him and rolled out of the way of its attack. Then, another one came charging at greater speed and made contact with him as it right through his stomach. He wailed in pain as the same cold crystals formed out of the contact.
Okay. Can't let another one hit me or I might be done for. There has to be a way to hurt them. Soler thought. Then, three of them charged him simultaneously. Soler's eyes widened as he tried to dodge them. He ducked under one and jumped over the other but the wind picked up and blinded him mid-air, allowing the third to go right through him. It went from his back out through his chest. He howled in agony as he fell. The other creatures saw this chance and all charged towards him. Each went through a different part of him. One went through his arm, another is leg, and another through his back. He tormented cries were lost to the storm. Crystals came out from most of his body, and once he hit the ground, the crystals on his back snapped, intensifying the cold pain. Soler laid on the ground, panting hard, his bodily temperature was getting beyond what his body could regulate. He touched parts of his body and couldn't feel those parts of his body. He groaned and painfully forced himself back up. The creatures went back to circling him.
Okay, I'm going to die if I can't think of something. He figured, remembering that when we threw a Chaos Spear at them, it affected them. He felt his arms and knew he couldn't throw a Spear straight, so the only option is for a Chaos Blast. Soler began gathering Chaos Energy as fast as he could. The creatures picked up on the sudden surge of strange energy Soler was giving off and picked up the storm and the speed at which they circled him. He was charging as fast as he could and he could feel that they weren't going to keep their distance for too much longer, so he had to be quick. Just as he neared a fully charged Chaos Blast, they all charged him at once, from all sides. Right before they could touch him, he released all of the stored energy.
"Chaos Blast!" Soler shouted. The massive pulse of energy that came from Soler pushed back all of the creatures as they cried in pain from the energy and dissipated out of sight. As soon the creatures disappeared, Soler could see that there was a Temple a few yards away. He shivered once more.
"Okay. Now that that's settled. Off to the temple." He said as he trudged his way to the temple.
(P.O.V. Soler, Mountain Temple)
Soler made his way into the temple and saw that most of it had ice covering it, from the walls, to the icicles hanging from the ceiling. The temperature on the inside was still cold, but it was warmer than the outside. Soler whistled.
"Man this place seems ancient. I wonder who built this place, and how long it's been here." He said a loud. He walked through the temple looking for any signs of Sonic or Rainbow. "Sonic! Rainbow! Where are you guys?" He shouted to no one. He got no response but kept pushing forward anyway. As he walked, he noticed that a wall of the temple that didn't have ice on it, and looked like there was writing on the wall. He couldn't understand it, guessing that it was in Equestrian. He was still interested in what it could be saying. He seemed so fascinated by this place's culture and history, but never wanted to sit down and study up on it like Shadow. The temple didn't seem all that big, and was pretty straight forward since it didn't many corridors leading from the main path. He still found no signs of Sonic or Rainbow and he couldn't sense the Emerald anywhere, meaning it was gone. He sighed.
Looks like the Emerald's not here, but I still need to find Sonic and RD. I wonder where they are. Soler thought. He made his way to the back of the temple, which led to a large open room. He walked into the room, impressed at how big it was. This must be the middle of the temple. He looked at the center of the room and saw that in the center, there seemed to be some sort of altar. He walked up to it and looked at how it looked like it could hold something. He wondered what it was, and immediately dropped the thought when he noticed something blue on the ground. His eyes widened and he ran over to it, and as he got closer, he saw that it was Sonic on the ground, unconscious. He held Sonic in his arms and put an ear to his chest. Soler sighed, glad to hear a heartbeat. Then, he noticed how cold he was and that the tip of his quills started to frost over.
At least he's alive, but it looks like he's been here for a while. I wonder what happened to him? And where's Rainbow? He thought.
"Hey, Sonic. Wake up, man. Sonic, wake up." Soler said as he shook him. At first Sonic didn't move too much, but as he kept shaking him he started to stir and open his eyes a bit.
"Sol… So… Soler?" He barely whispered. Soler smiled.
"Yeah I'm here, blue. What happened here? And where is Rainbow?" He asked. Sonic grabbed Solers arm.
"Rainbow… Rainbow."
"Yeah, what about Rainbow?"
"Rainbow… Save… Rainbow." Sonic pleaded before he passed back out. Soler looked at him with worry.
"Okay buddy, I'm going to save her. But first you, okay?" He told him.
"Well it seems like I have another rat to squash." A voice said. This ticked Soler off.
"Hey! I'm not a rat! I'm a hedge…" He started but stopped once he turned back and saw who it was. "Oh, this might be a problem." He stared at the Rainbow who didn't look like her normal self. Her mane and tail had turned a dark black, while her normal coat color turned a darker shade of blue. Her eyes were no longer magenta, instead a blank white, pupiless. The way she looked reminded him of what he looks like when he goes dark.
"What happened to you? Who did this to you?" He asked her. She smiled wickedly at him.
"Oh, what? You don't like the new me? I think I look awesome. Plus, with this new power, I can squash little rats. Like you." She said to him. Soler could feel the negative energy coming off of her and it didn't feel like magic, more like Chaos Energy. Soler picked up Sonic and teleported them to the entrance of the room and placed him down. Soler looked back at Rainbow with a glare, knowing of the coming fight. Before Soler could take a step, he felt Sonic grab his leg to which he looked down at him.
"Please… Don't hurt her." He whispered. Soler looked at him and squatted to his face.
"Don't worry, blue. I know how much you care for her. I'm not gonna hurt her." Soler told him to which Sonic let go and let Soler walk in the room. Soler walked up to Rainbow as she was hovering in the middle of the room smiling.
"So I guess this means you're going to take me down? What's this about not going to hurt me?" She laughed, "That's why you rats are so pathetic. Can't even hurt a pegasus, that's why I took down the blue one without much hassle. He tried to talk to me saying, 'Oh Dash, please don't do this. I'm your friend.' Bwahaha so pathetic and weak." Soler stared daggers at her as she laughed.
"You know he wouldn't hurt you, no matter what. But I'm wondering what caused you to turn this way to begin with." He said. She stopped laughing and looked down on him.
"Well come at me and I might tell you. Rat." She said. Soler clenched his fist but let out a deep breath.
"As you wish." He said and got into a fighting stance. Dash straightened her flying and smiled. Soler felt something going on but couldn't exactly tell what she was going to do. Then a dark cloud started to form around her and the quills on the back of his neck started to stick up. She smiled as she could see the look on his face.
"Hey rat, I hope you're ready for a storm." She started as he stared right at her, "Because it's gonna be a big one." Then, a bolt of lightning came at Soler with blazing speed from the clouds around her. He barely dodged the attack and looked to see the mark it left on the spot where it hit.
Man, her lighting is moving way faster than normal lighting. And it feels like the lighting is being powered up with Chaos Energy. This might be harder than I first thought. Soler thought to himself. Another bolt came at him and dodged it, ready for the attack. Rainbow wasn't letting up on lighting, as she began sending a mass barrage at him, at blinding speeds too. Soler was running around, doing his best to dodge the fast lighting, but it was becoming harder, each strike seeming to have a mind of its own on where it was going to land. There was a brief moment between strikes and he took the opportunity to get close. He jumped right at her and tried to grab her. Rainbow didn't try to move as she saw him get close. He was almost able to grab her when he saw that she smiled, and his eyes widened in shock.
She wanted me this close! He realized all too late as a bolt of lightning struck him full force from above him. He screamed in suffering as the lighting sent him flying to the ground, making him pop off the ground and slid to a stop. He was scrunched up in a ball as the electricity was coursing through him. Rainbow was laughing maniacally.
"Did you really think I didn't notice you get that close? Such a dumb rat. I let you get close just to strike you more easily." She said. Just then a Chaos Spear whizzed past her head, missing her by a hair. She looked down at an angry Soler as he stood back up and stared right back at her with another Spear ready to go. She smirked, "I may have misjudged you, rat. It seems that you have the guts to hurt me." She stared at him for a moment. Then she smiled wickedly.
"This may be a better fight than I thought." Soler didn't respond, instead throwing another Spear at her, barely missing her again, before she sent another huge bolt of lighting at him. With the last lightning strike still coursing through him, he couldn't move too fast, so he formed a Spear and blocked the attack by reflecting it into a wall. She smiled more as clouds formed above Soler's head. He noticed it just before it struck and got out of the way of the strikes. Eventually, many clouds had formed above him as he ran around Rainbow, dodging the strikes and throwing Spears at her. She easily kept dodging them, but he noticed that it looked like it took massive concentration to keep the clouds forming above him. He had an idea.
"Man, this lighting is so pathetic! I mean, I could do better with this than you." Soler mocked her. A frown formed on her face. Soler smirked, "Oh, did I strike a nerve litle pony?" Her frown deepened into a scowl as she stopped the onslaught of attacks. He stopped and smirked.
"See? I told you that a child could do more damage than you if they had your powers." He egged on. Just then a huge surge of lightning came up from under him as it hit him full force. He wailed, the attack having taken him by shock. RD didn't smile from hearing his pain but only kept her scowl. Once the lighting died down, Soler was still standing in the same pose he got struck in before he collapsed to the ground. He tried to move, but the electricity surging through him made it hard as he got on his knees.
"Now I'm done playing with you, hedgehog. It's time, to die." She said. Soler stood up, still shaking, but he smiled.
"You called me hedgehog." He said. She only scowled as a cloud formed around Soler and lighting charged around him.
"Goodbye, hedgehog," was all she said before she let the onslaught of lighting strike him. It happened with such power and speed that she didn't even hear him scream. Sonic watched in horror as he saw the attack make direct contact with Soler. Once the clouds dissipated, they saw that there wasn't even a body there, only marks from where the attack hit.
No, he can't be dead. Sonic thought to himself. Rainbow laughed.
"Man, I only wished that I could've heard him scream one last time. But I guess my power was too awesome for him to handle. That's what he gets for mocking me." She bragged.
"Well, I don't know about handle, but if that attack did hit me, I sure would've been done for." She heard him say. She turned around angrily to see Soler resting on a wall smirking. She started fuming.
"How are you alive? You should be dead!" She shouted. He only smirked at her.
"Come at me and find out." He taunted. She screamed in rage and sent a bolt straight at him and surprisingly, he didn't move from the attack and let it hit him. "Come on. I know you can do better than that." Soler got into a different position. Rainbow sent another rage-filled bolt at him and it hit again. He yawned.
"Was that supposed to be an attack? It kinda tickled." Soler retorted. Her anger rose.
"Why won't you hold still and die?" She shouted. He smiled.
"I am holding still, you just can't aim." He said. "I mean, come on, I'm standing right here Dashie." This time his words came from behind her. Her eyes widened as there were now two Soler's in the room.
"Yeah Dashie. Step it up." Another one said in a different area. More and more Soler's started to appear around the room. And they were all taunting her.
"What's wrong? Can't hit little ol' me? Are you tired? I can go get you some water if you want. Man, and I thought this was going to be a challenge, what a waste." The Soler's were saying. The whole time they were taunting her, she only grew furious at them, and closed her eyes. They continued taunting her, getting louder as more appeared around her. Sonic watched the spectacle and could feel that she was building energy for a massive attack. Right when it looked like the Soler's couldn't get louder, she opened her eyes, which were sparking with electricity.
"Shut up!" She screamed. Then, a massive barrage of lightning poured down and came up from the ground as it struck the Solers all at once. There was so much lighting that it blinded Sonic and he had to cover his eyes. As the flash faded, he could see that all of the Solers were gone, and Rainbow looked exhausted, still hovering in the middle of the room. Before she could smile, the real Soler appeared in front of her, to which she widened her eyes,
"Gotcha RD." He said as he put his hand on her chest. He quickly focused in on the negative Chaos Energy and pumped in some positive energy to counterbalance the negative energy. Once he pumped in enough energy, Rainbow screamed in agony from the sudden energy. Her black mane turned back to normal. Once the transformation was over, she fell unconscious and into Soler's arms. He landed on the ground, holding an inert Rainbow Dash as he walked over to Sonic. He placed her on the ground as he fell to one knee.
"Don't worry, I didn't hurt her. I just pumped in some positive energy to counterbalance the negative energy that got placed in her." Soler said, winded. Sonic didn't reply. He simply crawled over to Rainbow and lied down next to her and held her close to him.
"Thank you." He said weakly before he passed out again. Soler smiled at the sight, glad to see them kinda okay. He sighed as he stood up.
"Man, I was hoping at least one of you guys would be up, but now I have to carry both of you." He fussed. He then felt his side and winced, "I don't think I have enough energy to do a Chaos Control back to the castle. Wait, I think the Crystal Empire is near this mountain range. I should have enough energy to get us there at least." He collected Sonic and RD as he focused the last of his energy to teleport them to the Crystal Empire.
(P.O.V. none, Crystal Empire)
Soler was sitting in a castle medic wing waiting on the nurse to return. He teleported them to the center of the city and scared a lot of ponies. He made his way to the castle and asked for help. At first, the guards were reluctant to let him in, but then they saw who he was and saw Sonic and Rainbow passed out in his arms. They went to get the Princess and her husband and let him the castle. The medical staff took Sonic and Rainbow away to be examined while he waited. The nurses asked if he wanted them to look at his wounds but he shrugged them off and told them to focus on them. It had been awhile since the two had been taken, and he began to worry for them. They had been on that mountain for a few days without warmth, Rainbow had been under the control of negative Chaos Energy and who knows how that's affecting her body. Soler was tapping his foot impatiently when a nurse came out of the room and walked to him. He stood up.
"How are they?" He asked her. She smiled sweetly at him.
"Don't worry, all they need is a lot rest and they should be back to normal in no time." The nurse said. Soler sighed in relief.
"Thank you so much." He said back to her. She smiled and walked back into the room to care for them. A guard came from around a corner.
"Princess Cadence and Shining Armor will see you now." He said and led Soler to the throne room. As they walked in, Soler could see that there was another Alicorn princess, as well as a white stallion.
"Welcome to the Crystal Empire. I am Princess Cadance, and this is my husband, Shining Armor." Cadance said. Her coat was a bright pink, her mane and tail a blend of pink and purple, yellow streaks flowing through them. It didn't flow continuously like Luna's or Celestia does, but it was just as pretty. And her eyes were a splendid lavender.
"Yes, we have heard about you and your friends' arrival and hoped that you would come and visit us just under better circumstances." Shining Armor said. His coat was a bright white, his mane and tail a cobalt blue with a streak of a lighter blue running through the middle. From the way he presented himself, he reminded Soler of one of the guards he's seen. Soler bowed to the two.
"I'm grateful that you guys helped me with Sonic and Rainbow. I don't think I would've been able to get them back to Twilight's Castle." Soler said.
"Well, you don't need to thank us, we're always ready to help Twilight and her friends. And may I ask where Twilight and the others are?" Cadance asked. Soler scratched the back of his head and looked away from them. The two didn't like his body movements and looked at each other with concern.
"Where is my sister?" Shining ask Soler again. Soler sighed.
"Well you see, I don't exactly know where she's at. Hehe." Soler said to which Cadance looked at Soler with concern. Shining looked at him with more than a bit of anger. Soler was putting on his best forced smiled from the tension in the room. When you think the air couldn't get any thicker, a baby alicorn popped out of nowhere and into Soler's arms. He looked down at the cute baby and it smiled back up at him and laughed.
"So I think there's some things we need to discuss." Soler said as he played with the baby, "But first, let's wait till Sonic and RD recover. They're more important at the moment, and they'll be able to tell us what happened at the temple. So, if you could wait a bit, I'll stick around to explain." The baby laughed in his arms.
Chap 14 is over and out. Man, this story is taking some turns, but there's way more in store. I don't have to much to say this outro, but thanks for all you guys who have been reading up until now and the new readers as well. So this is Solerwolf, OUT!