Hello, ModernDayBard here! You can probably tell by now, but still: most of this fic was the actual CosmiColts story that Twilight's adapting, so it featured more oc's than show characters, but I hope you liked it anyway! Of course, I don't own MLP or its associated characters; just my OC's and plot idea.

Yet again, Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship sneaked into the library of her new castle with just her pet owl for company. Spike's birthday was only a few days away now, and she was almost finished transcribing his favorite comic book. Knowing time was short, the lavender-furred alicorn levitated the pages from where she stored them, then dipped a quill in her ink. She scanned the page to find where she was, and then concentrated to recall what happened next. As she was drawn into the now-familiar world of the story, she began to write, words coming fast and hard once again.

Forest Fire's throat still burned like the flames that flowed through her blood, but she managed a smirk for the six would-be heroes looming over her. For a brief moment, she considered using her fire powers to melt the ice that bound her hooves. Ultimately, however, the orange earth pony decided that the few minutes such an enterprise would take would be a few to long, given that the captives-turned-captors would likely jump on any sign of an escape attempt.

The expectant pause suggested that they were waiting for her to speak, so the subdued villain decided to unsettle them as much as she possibly should. Perhaps such a strategy could even create an opportunity for her to escape or attack. Making a show of taking in the burns, bruises, lacerations, and other injuries, Fire laughed as heartily as she could manage. "Oh, don't you all look quite the worse for wear?" She laughed again, then abruptly grew serious, her dark red eyes locking onto Rock Solid's deep green ones. "You really should have just let him kill me." On 'him', the captive switched her attention to Shade, waiting for the dark unicorn to look away in shame or guilt.

Before the stand-off reached a definite conclusion, Snowstorm's dry deadpan commanded Fire's attention. "Well, that's a bit masochistic, especially for someone as committed to self-preservation as you. Care to elaborate?"

"Oh, I'd love to," the flame-wielder replied in a mock-sweet tone, glaring at Snow. Besides operating on opposite sides of the law, the two mares got along as well as…well, about as well as fire and ice. "It's simple, really. Even I obviously can't fight all six of you at once when you all work together. But take even one away—turn him into a villain, for instance—and you all fall apart."

Fire had begun to sneer at Shade again, but Rock stepped between them. "You aren't working with the other Elementals anymore—are you?"

"Obviously not. Do you honestly think that those lunkheads could pull off incapacitating and capturing even you? No. No, I've moved up into the big leagues."

As intended, this answer both frustrated the CosmiColts' leader and piqued his curiosity. Leaning into the orange mare's face, he demanded, "Who counts as the 'big leagues'?"

"And what makes you think that I'd sell out my partner?"

At that, Snow snorted derisively. "The fact that we're even having this conversation doesn't speak highly of your loyalty."

For a moment, the villain held her rival's gaze, both mares' faces frozen in blank, expressionless masks, until Fire turned back to the brown-furred stallion. "Ok, I'll grant that point."

"Who is your partner?" Beneath the soot and burns, Rock Solid's expression betrayed his frustration and impatience. The captive mare treated him to anther infuriating smirk.

"Why, I was almost certain you've met him, and looking around, I can see that he made quite the…impact." The earth-powered earth-pony growled deep in his throat, but before he could speak, Forest Fire continued. "If it's a name you're after, I'm afraid I can't help you there—he never mentions it. As far as weaknesses: to the best of my knowledge, he doesn't have any."

"Everyone's got a weakness, even…even Copycat!"

The flame-wielder blinked her deep red eyes in partial surprise. "Oh, he'd hate that nickname. He prefers 'Blademaster', if you must call him something." She took a moment to glance at the smallest colt in the group—the one who'd spoken. "My word," she observed in a sharp, dry voice. "You finally let 'little brother' out of the lab. Do you have a curfew you have to get him back by so that he doesn't get in trouble with Mommy?"

To her surprise, Jinx had a ready reply. "I stay in the lab so that I don't overwhelm the common criminal element with my brilliance. You're the ones who dragged me out of the base and into this mess. You might not be glad that you did."

"Not bad," Fire admitted. "You guys should let him out more often. Or at least let him coach you on taunts and threats. Kid's got a gift."

Forest Fire's smirking confidence was abruptly shattered when the CosmiColts' previously silent telepath pertly reported: "Got it! The nerve center is the main room of the hall two floors up." Tele-pony smiled sweetly at their fuming prisoner. "Thank your for your cooperation."

The orange mare cursed inwardly that she hadn't realized their tactic of distraction from the start, but it was far too late, now.

Blademaster stood with his back to the door, dispassionately observing the screens that showed the feedback form the security cameras, intently studying the drama as it played out.

No, the 'escape and uprising' had not rattled the black-furred, red-maned unicorn, nor did it even surprise him. If anything, the six young 'heroes' had taken longer to regroup than he'd expected them to, but at least they were on their way, making haste towards their doom.

True, once he'd finished absorbing their powers (about an hour before), he could've gone down to their cells and killed them one-by-one, but he couldn't deny that his dramatic flair, as well as his sadistic side, was looking forward to the despair the young ponies would feel as they fell in battle, realizing that all along they'd played into his master plan.

"Run faster, little heroes," Blademaster rasped, grinning wickedly. "Run faster."

As the CosmiColts picked up speed, Snowstorm concentrated, attempting to calm her mind and prepare herself to unleash her power on their foe. Rock Solid's plan was simple, and it relied on striking hard and fast, without giving Blademaster the chance to speak, taunt, or otherwise attack.

Tele-pony was in front, guiding them with the directions she'd stolen from Forest Fire's mind. Snow had to smile as she remembered encasing her rival entirely in ice, but there was no time to dwell on happy memories. For now, they were bursting through the nerve center's door, and the silver pegasus decided to open the floor, releasing a veritable blizzard targeting he lone figure in the room, screaming: "I'll show you 'Ice Queen'!"

Snow, Rock, and Shade had released their strongest elemental attacks more-or-less simultaneously. Meanwhile, Tele-pony had hoisted the heaviest object her telekinesis could handle and hurled it at their tormentor. Herbal Remedy and Jinx blocked the only door, as instructed, praying that it would not come down to them, as without their respective potions, talismans, scrolls, and amulets, or magi-tech, they felt far from combat-ready.

If the CosmiColts had hoped for a quick and immediate victory, they were disappointed.

Blademaster turned, stretching out a hoof. When he made contact with the tri-elemental blast, all three attacks crumbled with a familiar shock—Rock, Shade, and Snow all recognized the sensation of their techie's jinx.

*If he's learned or somehow acquired J's jinx, I don't know if we can beat him using our powers. We've got to try something else!*

Unfortunately, the lavender-furred unicorn's telekinesis was not the 'something else' that they could rely on. In a moment, their target had opened a portal of shadows in front of him, swallowing the first object Tele-pony had thrown. Even worse, the telepath had already launched another heavy computer bank. Before she could let it drop, Blademaster had seized it with his own stolen telekinesis, flinging it casually to one side.

Snow saw it coming towards her and tried to dodge and throw up an ice-shield at the same time, but it was too little, too late. The heavy machinery crashed into her, pinning the ice-powered mare to the ground and rendering her temporarily unconscious.

Rock Solid once more found himself torn—as the CosmiColts leader, he needed to call shots and strategies; as himself, he was desperate to run to Snowstorm's aid, to protect and help her. Growling under his breath, the brown-furred stallion called out via the psychic link he'd had Tele-pony establish before the fight: *Powers won't work—switch to physical combat as you are able!* Then he turned towards where his pegasus friend had disappeared, only to see Herbal Remedy already attempting to pull her twin sister free. Realizing that their medic was the best pony to tend to their injured teammate, Rock reluctantly returned to the battle.

The earth elementalist was stopped in his tracks by a splitting headache and a rough attempt at telepathic communication. *Worried about your fillyfriend?* a harsh voiced laughed in his head as Rock stood still, trying to push himself forward, watching Shade and Tele-pony attempting to engage the dark stallion in physical combat. *You should pay more attention!*

The dreadful pressure halted abruptly, and the brown-furred earth pony stumbled forward a few steps, before pulling himself up and taking in the scene. The fight wasn't going well—it seemed that, in addition to absorbing their powers, Blademaster could learn and mimic their fighting styles. Even worse, the unicorn stallion didn't have to hold himself back from using his stolen powers to capitalize on their respective weaknesses.

They did their best to cover for each other and compensate, but the dark mastermind was also doing his best to split them apart, force them away from each other. Tele-pony had been edged away from the two colts, and was being subjected to a barrage of elemental attacks. Rock Solid was closer than his friend, and fought his way over, doing his best to shield the younger mare.

Blademaster obviously cared little for this display of protective care and leadership, choosing to take this opportunity to once more use the borrowed fire powers to take the earth-powered earth-pony out of the fight.

Shade yelled in frustration. He'd tried—he'd tried—to come to the aid of his best friend, but, while his shadow-attack did last long enough to distract the other black-furred unicorn from finishing off the CosmiColts' leader, he was too late to stop the attack from knocking Rock unconscious.

Shade knelt over Rock, wincing as he took in the horrendous burns now covering most of their leader's body. Tele-pony's yelp of fear brought his attention back to the battle just in time to erect a barrier of shadows that blocked and ice blast which would've impaled the three of them.

Blademaster then changed tactics, using his stolen jinx to dissipate the dark shield, but Shade was ready for him. The younger unicorn blocked the first jab, ducked under the next hook, and retaliated with an uppercut as he stood back upright. The red-maned villain staggered back, temporarily stunned, and Tele-pony surged to her hooves, face set.

"I've got him frozen for now, but I don't know how long how I can hold him before the jinx activates. Get Rock back to Remedy, then get back here and help me. Go!"

Knowing he had seconds—possibly less—to get his friend and leader to safety, Shade sprang into action, adrenaline allowing him to lift the older, larger colt with his magic and half-levitate, half-drag the unconscious elementalist back to Herbal Remedy, who'd just extricated an also-unconscious Snowstorm.

"Help him," the black-furred unicorn gasped. "I've got to go back and back up Tel."

The tan pegasus's panicked expression made him hesitate. "Shade, I-I don't have any herbs—any of my tools! What can I do? I-I can't help either of them!"

The herbalist felt the panic clawing at her throat when Shade laid a hoof on her shoulder. "Remedy, you can."

"No! Not that: I can't control it!"

"Yes, you can. Because now you have to. Your friends need you, so you'll come through." Herbal Remedy stood frozen as Shade turned and ran back to help the telepath, who'd lost her hold on the villain.

The pegasus mare looked down at her two injured teammates, trying desperately to calm down. She turned her focus inward, trying to force the seething mass of energy to take the form of a healing construct. But once more, she felt herself, her identity, her essence dissolving slowly, and the old fear began to surface.

*NO!*

Remedy redoubled her efforts, feeling her friends' trust in her as an almost-physical weight. She was suddenly aware of strains of music, snippets of a half-remembered song, floating by. The song had been written from the perspective of a father wishing he could take the place of his young, sick colt. The herbalist had always felt the sentiment resonate with her…

Yes, that was who she was—a healer, a protector! All at once, the seething energy ceased to struggle against her and began to work with her, bending to her will and taking the form she desired.

When the CosmiColts' medic felt certain that the construct was ready, she released her hold on the energy and let it flow into her friends. She reserved most of the power for the two at her hooves, but also allowing the remainder to enter the other three, healing minor injuries and replenishing spent energy.

Rock Solid and Snowstorm scrambled to their hooves, looking more-or-less disoriented until Tele-pony brought them back into the Psychic link and filled them in. Herbal Remedy joined them as they e-entered the battle, grin widening as the young pegasus realized she now knew exactly how to control her previously mysterious powers.

Tele-pony had felt the surge of well-being from the healing, but couldn't let herself wonder at or celebrate it, as she had to focus on maintaining a constant psychic barrage. It couldn't freeze, or truly harm their opponent, but it did keep him off-balance enough to allow Shade to hold his own—if only barely.

The lavender unicorn was momentarily taken aback when the two of them were joined by Rock, Snow, even Remedy. The unexpected arrival of their allies helped shift the battle to more even terms—or as even as you can call 5-on-1.

But the frustrating fact remained that, though Blademaster could not overpower them, neither could they defeat them, even with the five of them working more like a team than they had since Rock Solid had first united them as the CosmiColts.

Tele-pony, as the center of the psychic link, was in the best position to notice this new unity, but as she was the rearguard, she could tell that fight wasn't going exactly…well. Moreover, as her attacks had her in constant contact with their foe's mind, she was able to sense that he felt no fear, no surprise, no worry—only confidence and arrogance.

The telepath sensed a shift in their target's focus. The dark stallion had noticed Herbal Remedy's control mechanism for her previously uncontrollable power—singing.

"From herbalist to bard, eh?" His harsh voice cut above the clamor, and light began to coalesce around him.

*No—Oh, NO!* Minerva realized the truth with a growing sense of panic. *He's already absorbed her powers, and now he knows how to use them!*

Her panicked realization was cut off as a discordant cacophony ripped through the room, along with the accompanying rush of energy that focused on the six young heroes, driving them to their knees, and one by one they collapsed, unconscious.

The youngest CosmiColt had been driven to his knees, but finally, his jinx kicked in, allowing the relentless attack to roll over him. Gasping for breath, the grey-furred colt glanced around at his friends.

What he saw chilled him to the bone.

Blademaster strode through their fallen forms, deliberately stepping on Rock's outstretched hoof with a sickening crack. The imposing figure did not break stride, a dark aura forming around his horn as he used his magic to seize a dirk-like weapon.

As the dark unicorn brought it close to his face, he noticed Jinx—still on his knees, exhausted, but very much alert—glaring at him from behind cracked glasses. Blademaster treated him to a cold carnivore's smile. "Of course: the jinx—right? Handy little trick, isn't it? Guess that means that at least one of you will find out why I chose the name 'Blademaster'." With that threatening invitation, he used part of his magic to hold the blade and another part to seize the nearest head—Shade's—by the forelock.

Protective rage and fear surged through Jinx and, unarmed as he was, the young colt charged their tormentor. The techie may not have seemed an imposing figure, but galloping at full speed had built up enough momentum to cannon into Blademaster with enough force to make him drop his weapon and intended victim. The falling dagger cut a gash across Shade's face, but the injury was not life-threatening.

The black-furred fiend seized Jinx by the throat, standing as he tried to struggle with the smaller figure. Jinx gasped and chocked, his hooves barely scraping the floor, but through the pain and lack of oxygen, the silver-maned techie managed a crooked grin.

Blademaster narrowed his steel-grey eyes, magical grip tightening as he demanded, "Why are you smiling like an idiot?"

J felt the mad-pony's spittle spray across his face and could feel himself blacking out from lack of air, but he kept up his maddening grin as he choked out: "You absorbed—our powers—that's your—power.—But the jinx—destroys constructs—of power."

The hard-lit eyes widened, but the villain was too late to drop the too-tempting bait. J reached out a hoof, making contact with Blademaster's head, figuring that was the best way to jump-start the jinx (and the opportunity to punch their tormentor in the face was an added bonus).

For a frightening half-second, nothing happened. Then, thee jinx activated, blowing the two embattled figures away from each other in an almighty wave of energy.

As before, Owlowicious pecked at Twilight's hoof to get her to stop when he felt she'd stayed up late enough, but it took more effort to get her to put the quill down.

"I only have a few scenes left!" She protested. "Just the epilogue!"

"Whoo!" The nocturnal bird proved immovable on this point, and the Princess of Friendship was forced to cave, reminding herself she still had two days to finish the project before the little dragon's big celebration.

Like before, the alicorn dried the ink and hid the parchment before tip-toeing out of the library and heading for bed.

*I'm practically done…I just hope he likes it.*

So, yeah. Just a scene or two, plus the birthday left. Yes, I said this was a four-chapter fic, but I don't count prologues/epilogues, so I didn't lie! Well, anyway: if you like it, or see something I can fix, don't hesitate to leave a review letting me know!