"Ow, my head." groaned Libra, as he regained consciousness. He rubbed his head messing up his blonde and brown mane. Then he realized he was tied to a post at the waist
He looked around the small, dark, wooden room he was in, trying to find out where he was. But because there weren't any windows he had no idea where in Equestria he was. Then he looked to his left and saw Cyrulian and a small gasp escaped his lips at the sight before him. He was tied to the same pillar Libra was, and he looked horrible. Cyrul was covered with bruises, he had a black eye, a cut lip, blood dripping to the floor, and it looked like his nose was broken. Libra on the other hand only had a bad bump on his head, which is why he was unconscious, having taken a blow to the side of his head.
"How'd we ever get into this mess?" Libra wondered out loud, recalling what happened back in the alley ways.
Knock knock knock
Bliss opened her door to see Libra standing on her doorstep.
"Hey Libra." she says, giving him a light kiss on his cheek.
"Hey." he says, returning the kiss. "Ready to go?"
"You bet." the pink filly answers, giggling a bit as she brushed a forehoof through her red mane, the blonde streak in it coming down on the side of her face. "What do you think Everen's so excited to tell us about?"
"I have no idea, and I've given up on trying to guess with him." the pegasus sighs. "He's just so unpredictable at times."
"Yeah, tell me about it." said the pink unicorn, turning her head to look back inside her house for a minute. "I'll be back later mom, I'm gonna go out with my friends." she says, raising her voice.
"Alright, just be sure you get home by seven thirty." her mother replies from inside the building.
"Got it." Bliss responds, looking back to her colt-friend. "Lets go."
"Lets." Libra says, turning around.
The two canter out into the street, leaning into each other affectionately. As they're moving down the street, three bulky colts approach them.
"Can we help you?" Libra asks, tensing up, ready to act at a moments notice.
"You can give me all your money, or we can just beat you to a pulp and take your money anyway." said the colt at the head of the group, a blue on blue earth pony.
"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have any money." Libra says, ready to turn tail and run.
The blue colt seemed unfazed by this. "Guess we'll just have to pummel you for fun then." he said as the other two tried to flank Bliss and Libra. But they were ready, and they galloped down the nearest alleyway as fast as their legs would take them. The bullies followed at top speed, trying to catch their prey.
"Get back here!" shouted one of the colts chasing them.
"You must be pretty stupid if you think we'll just turn around because you tell us to." Bliss retorted, smirking.
"Hey! You'll pay for that insult!" the colt shouted back, infuriated.
"No. I don't think she will." Libra called back, grinning.
As Libra and Bliss turned a corner they ran right into one of the bullies, who had apparently gone around to cut them off. They turned around to see the other two colts closing in. Libra spotted a small side alley and ran into it, pulling Bliss along with him. The couple emerged on the other side and looked around. The blue colt was behind them, the blonde maned red pegasus on their left, the brunette maned green unicorn on the right. Bliss and Libra were driven into a corner.
"We've got you now." said the earth pony. The three bullies began closing in.
"HEY! BACK AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!" shouted a voice from nearby.
Cyrulian groaned in pain as he began to regain consciousness. Libra looked over at the blue-green colt, coming out of his contemplations.
"Libra! Are you okay? Where in Equestria are we? What's going on?" Cyrul asked, almost too quickly to keep up.
"Calm down Cyrul. I'm fine. Better off than you at least" Libra said, looking at the battered form next to him. "We were beaten up and foal-napped by those bullies. As for where we are, I have no idea." he explained briefly, but slowly, trying to settle down Cyrul.
"I can't believe they beat us so easily." Cyrul said, disappointed with himself.
"Hey you put up a better fight than me." Libra said, looking down. He was jealous of the earth pony's strength when compared to his own. "I was knocked out with one punch, it took two of them longer to down you than it took one of them to take out me."
"Don't be sad Libra. Fighting isn't your strong suit. You're smarter than I could ever be." the green-maned colt comforted Libra. "I honestly wish I could be that smart."
"Well if we ever get out of this I could tutor you." Libra responded, sincerely wanting to help out his friend.
"Really? Awesome!" Cyrulian said. "And maybe I could train you. Help you build a little muscle."
"That'd be great." Libra responded. "But first we have to get out of here."
"Any ideas?" Cyrul asked.
"Give me a minute, let me think." Libra said. "I'll try and come up with something."
But the pegasus was soon lost in thought, recapping what had happened at the lake.
Libra and Bliss were swimming around and relaxing in the cool water. They weren't worried about the bullies at this time, having forgotten them completely for the time being.
"Hey Bliss?" Libra said, getting her attention.
"Yes?" she replied.
"What should we do after this?" the pegasus asked.
"I was thinking we could take the long way home." the pink unicorn said, wanting to spend more time with her colt-friend.
"Sounds good to me." the reddish-brown colt responded, all too happy to be with her.
"Wah! Hey! Let go of me!" shouted a voice from the shore.
Bliss an Libra turned to around to see Cyrulian holding the blonde haired pegasus from the alleyway in a headlock. "A little help would be nice he said, looking out to the couple in the lake.
Libra and Bliss started to swim towards the shore. When they finally got there the tables had been turned. Cyrul was taking a severe beating from two of the ponies from before. They managed to knock out Cyrul after a few seconds. When they began dragging him off Libra rushed after them, crying out in anger. But he was swiftly downed with a punch from the earth pony of the group. The colt then proceeded to pull Libra along with him.
"Libra!" Bliss cried out, the last sound Libra heard before he lost all consciousness.
Libra again looked around the mostly empty room, trying to formulate a plan to get out. He saw nothing of immediate use, but an idea had occurred to him. "Hey Cyrul?"
"Yes?" he said looking at the pegasus.
"Do you think you have enough strength to stretch these ropes? Just enough for me to get my wings out?" Libra asked.
"Probably, what're you thinking?" Cyrulian responded.
"I've got a plan." he answered simply, grinning ear to ear. "But it's going to take all we've got, are you ready?"
The earth pony smiled back. "Anytime you are."
"Alright, Bliss, my house is the closest so go and get my parents." Everen said "Time to practice our new spell Bliss." he continued as he moved closer to the other unicorn, pointing his horn towards her.
"Are you sure?" Bliss whined, not sure if she's ready yet.
"Yes I'm sure. We can do this." Everen assured her.
The two touched the tips of their horns together, lighting them up with green and red glows. When they lifted their heads they stared at each other for a few seconds before nodding in unison and turning away from the other.
"Lily, come with me." Everen said as he began to move towards the large hill not to far from the lake.
"Where are we going?" Lily asked.
"Up the hill. I'm gonna try and see if I can figure out where they took Libra and Cyrul." he explained, brushing the green streak in his mane out of his face. "And then we're going to go and rescue them."
"But with Libra's brains and Cyrul's strength, shouldn't they be able to handle themselves?" Lily inquired, remembering the dangerous combo those two can make when they work together.
"Under normal circumstances, yes. But the both of them are beaten up, and even if they got free they'd just be captured again." the unicorn explained, increasing his pace to a light gallop.
Lily sped up her own stride to keep up. "Hey, Everen, what were you going to say under lake?"
He looked back at her briefly, then looked ahead again. "I'll tell you later. Promise."
Lily sighed in frustration, but felt better nonetheless; Everen has yet to break a promise. As the two made it to the top of the hill, Everen began looking around, trying to find where Libra Cyrulian were most likely being kept. He spotted a small wooden shed in the alleys. He squinted at it, noticing that it doesn't have any windows.
"There." he stated, pointing at the wooden structure. He galloped down the hill and was at the edge of town within a couple of minutes, Lily right behind him.
"So what, exactly do you plan to do when we get there?" Lily questioned.
"I don't have any idea. I was going to deal with that when I got there." Everen admitted, a little embarrassed. "Don't worry about me though, I'll be fine. You just have to get the door open for Libra and Cyrul."
"I know what I have to do, but you can't expect me to not worry." Lily stated.
"Good point." Everen conceded.
As the two made it to the edge of the clearing where the shed was located, Everen looked over to Lily and signaled for her to go around. Everen walked out into view of the colts who attacked them, an idea suddenly occurring to him as he did so. When they saw him they all charged right at him. When they got close, Everen conjured his shield. All three attackers slammed their shoulders into the shield only to hurt themselves on the solid construct. Then, Everen tried out his idea, he thought of his shield becoming a suit of armor, and it shrunk down and fitted itself to his body. When the colts picked themselves up, they all punched and kicked Everen, but he just stood his ground, not feeling any of it. When the blue colt went in for another punch, Everen ducked it and uppercutted his jaw. And then Everen continued by standing his ground hitting one of them every once in a while to keep their attention on him. Meanwhile Lily snuck up to the front door of the shed and opened it, to see Libra tied to a post at his waist, and flapping his wings frantically. He got loose and the ropes fell to the ground, and Cyrulian and Libra walked over to Lily.
"Right on time." Libra said.
"I'd say Everen could use your help, but I think he's got it." Lily retorted.
"Yeah looks like it." Libra laughed, seeing the three colts getting their flanks handed to them.
When Everen saw that his friends were free he ran over to them expanding his shield around them. "Just a few more moments."
"Until what?" Cyrulian asks.
"You'll see." Everen looked back at the earth pony. "Dude, you look awful."
"Gee, thanks." Cyrul says, sarcastically.
"Sorry." Everen apologized.
"It's fine." Cyrul consoled him.
"YOU THREE ARE IN SO MUCH TROUBLE NOW!" shouted a voice from across the alley. When Everen and co. looked to see who it was, they saw Frost, with Bliss standing right behind her.
"Oh buck!" the unicorn bully said, recognizing the mare. He tried to run, but Frost picked him up with her magic. The other two tried to get away, but they were enveloped in an orange glow as Blaze casually walked in.
"Rest assured your parents will hear about this." he said calmly.
The colts weren't sure who was more terrifying, Frost's blistering rage in stark contrast to Blaze's calm nature.
Blaze took the three colts in his magic as Frost contacted the parents of Everen's friends telepathically, letting them know what had happened. Afterwards Blaze took the colts to their respective parents, telling them what their sons had done, while Frost escorted the others home. When Everen got home his father was waiting for him at the door.
"Do you have any idea how stupid it was rushing in without a complete plan like that?" Blaze asked, looking at Everen.
Everen looked down, ready for the scolding he was sure to get.
"I'm so proud of you son." Blaze smiled.
"Blaze?" Frost shouted, alarmed.
"He risked his own safety for his friends, was not so arrogant that he didn't ask for help, performed some impressive magic considering his age, creating a telepathic link with Bliss was genius, and he followed his instincts. I'd say that's something to be proud of." he explained.
"I guess you're right." Frost submitted, giving Everen a soft look and hugging him lightly.
Everen lit up at this, elated that his parents weren't mad. They all cantered inside, Blaze getting out some ice cream and a scoop, and Frost getting three bowls and spoons. The family sat at the kitchen table eating ice cream together as Everen explained the full story. When he had finished, his parents told him to go upstairs to his room. While a bit confused at first he complied, not wanting to get into trouble now.
"Okay I know he's always had a strong intuition, but it was never this deep. I think that necklace is changing him." Frost said, very worried.
"I realize this, but so far it hasn't changed who he is, and all the changes it is making are good ones. I don't think it's doing any harm." Blaze countered.
"Alright, I'll let it go for now." Frost said, defeated.
Blaze smiled, getting up to kiss his wife, who returned the kiss. They went to bed after that, checking to make sure Everen was asleep. Little did they know that in the shadows of his bedroom, something was there, watching him.
"Well, what have you to report?" Beatrice asked the shadows of her bedroom.
"He is developing nicely, he is selfless, courageous, observant, intelligent, and competent in a fight." said a deep throaty voice.
"The necklace is giving him a powerful sense of intuition, increased magical endurance with each use of the shield, and more versatility with his magic, and it's gradually granting him more knowledge of how it works." said another voice this one more feminine.
"The colt is loyal to those he cares for, he is not arrogant, but is instead a great strategist. He is obedient to his parents, merciful to his enemies, and kind towards his friends. And an interesting feature of the shield has arisen, he can effectively turn it into a suit of body armour. He can fight without being injured." came a third voice, this one higher, so that it sounded like a child.
"Good work, this is more than enough data for now." Beatrice said, turning away from the shadow. "Back to it."
The shadow disappeared, and the alicorn got into bed, turning to face her window. "He's going to grow up well it seems." she said, closing her eyes. "Goodnight my knight in emerald armour."