Chapter 43: The Dark Magic Squad
The ponies all arrived in the city where Lucky's soul had vanished, and it was huge. They all would have looked around and admired it, if they didn't have an important mission. They were on hoof now and galloping all around, they'd split up. Two to each group for safety. Though, with 31 ponies, there is one group of 3. The three Alicorns. "Do you think we can find Lucky's soul in time Aunt Celestia?", Cadance asked. "I don't know Cadance. Her soul should be easy to spot. It should be her size and the color of her mane, mint blue, as I had said before we all split up." Cadance and Luna still looked worried. Celestia laid a wing over their backs. "It'll be fine. I have confidence that we'll find her soul in time. Her wounds have been patched up and she should be fine in the whole town's plus Cloudsdales' hooves." Cadance and Luna nodded. With Lightning and Citrus, they were left alone, though Citrus was on edge and highly alert so that he could defend his wife and unborn child if he had to. With Featherweight and Derpy, they were high strung, looking everywhere for a sign of a threat or for a sign of Lucky's soul.
With Rainbow and Applejack, they had a run in with an evil pony, but they both beat him. Now the police are taking him to jail where he belongs. He knew Dark Magic, but he wasn't that skilled in it. Neither of the 5 lower Dark Magic users are much of a threat, because they don't know enough Dark Magic yet. There are 4 that they should be worried about that are deadly. Silver Spoon and Diamond, they had no run ins. Flower and Rose were harassed by another Dark Magic user, but Flower was brave and fought her and the police were able to nab another criminal. Sunflower and Thunder encountered nopony evil, so their walk is uneventful. Sweetie's and Ice Frost's search could have the same said. Spitfire and Vinyl however, they ran into the second most deadly Dark Magic user. Midnight was the first deadly, as he knew the soul ripping spell. Spitfire and Vinyl got into defensive stances. This Unicorn was grinning evilly and they knew he was one of them. The Unicorn saw them and snorted. "You think you two can take me on? Just try it." He charged and so did Vinyl and Spitfire.
Vinyl charged up a spell and Spitfire flew up into the air, preparing to do a Wonderbolts trick at the Unicorn. The Unicorn aimed a spell at Spitfire. She dodged it and Vinyl aimed her spell at the Unicorn, at the same time Spit did her damage. The Unicorn got hurt, but he still stood. He aimed a spell at Vinyl, who without the magical knowledge Twilight has, is at a loss. The spell hit her and she got blasted back, and her glasses flew off her face. Spitfire dashed to catch Vinyl and was successful. Though the glasses fell finally and broke. Vinyl looked to where they hit and went over to them when Spitfire put her back on her hooves and picked them up. She got a pissed off face and said, "Oh now you made me mad. Never. Touch. The. Glasses. Well, in your case, you hit me, but my glasses flew off and they broke. Feel my wrath Unicorn!
"Vinyl, don't do anything stupid!", Spitfire warned the DJ. "Don't worry Spitfire, I know what I'm doing!", she called back, and powered up a spell. She really put her hatred into this one, but the Unicorn deflected it. Spitfire landed next to Vinyl and whispered in her ear, "It looks like we might need the element of surprise. Catch him off guard and really slam him." Vinyl sighed and nodded. "Giving up?" They both looked at him with defiant faces. "You wish!", they said. Spitfire had Vinyl get on her back and then Spitfire flew way up high, past the clouds so that the Unicorn couldn't see them. He looked around, up, and all over. He was starting to get furious. "Where are you?!" Spitfire came from behind and Vinyl charged up her spell that she tried to use when the Unicorn deflected it. When the pony turned around, it was too late. Vinyl's spell hit him and Spitfire used a move after Vinyl hopped off her back when Spitfire was close enough to the ground. The Unicorn got blasted back further than Vinyl did when his spell hit her. By both of their attacks, the Unicorn was badly injured.
Spitfire and Vinyl both walked up to the Unicorn, who was struggling to stand, but couldn't. "So Unicorn, why target our peaceful town of Ponyville, and our Princess?", Spitfire asked. "We're targeting Ponyville because of that fact. It's so peaceful and quiet, bah. It needs excitement and bad guys in it to make it interesting. Especially bad guys such as the Dark Magic Squad." Spitfire and Vinyl looked at each other in confusion. "Dark Magic Squad?", they asked. "Yes, we're a troupe of 10, trying but failing to get more Unicorns. Nopony else is interested in joining. Oh well, 10 is enough to overpower your Princess." Spitfire and Vinyl looked at each other. "Um, our Princess has already been defeated by Midnight Ranger. Her soul was taken away and she was badly injured.", Spitfire said. The Unicorn blinked twice, then smirked evilly.
"So she was taken down? Wait... he ripped out her soul? What is he, crazy?! That is the most stupid thing I have ever heard. That spell needs a sacrifice, preferably the one who casts it. Idiot!" Vinyl grinned, "What? You actually care for him?" The Unicorn glared, "Of course I care for him, we're like one big family, the Dark Magic Squad. We all look out for each other and stuff." The three looked at each other again. "Then, if you guys know the feeling of caring for one another, then why are you all evil? Why don't you care for other ponies outside of your group?", Spitfire asked. "Because... we all grew up in not so nice conditions... we all were dirt poor, couldn't afford hardly anything, we grew up in bad neighborhoods, with crimes and vandalism, and all the other bad stuff going on. We didn't like going to school because all the other foals would make fun of us because of our status in society... we dropped out of school and kept to ourselves. Our parents tried as hard as they could to make our lives better, but it just wasn't enough..."
Spitfire and Vinyl looked sorry for him. That made him mad, "Don't be looking all sorry for me! Deep down you guys are hateful to us too, because we're so evil and so poor and... never mind...", he quieted down. "But we do feel sorry for you. It stinks to have been raised in that kind of situation. Come on, please let us make friends with you, for all the right reasons.", Spitfire said and held out a hoof. The Unicorn seemed to be thinking about it. After a few minutes, he looked up, "You promise to be nice?", he asked. They smiled kindly and nodded. Then the Unicorn looked very apologetic. "Well... a-alright... maybe I can get my fellow squad members to see the bright side. See that... there are nice ponies out there, other than our parents. So... how long until I can move again?" Vinyl looked at the clock tower nearby. "In a couple hours... Here, I'll give you a lift until you can move again."
Vinyl lifted the Unicorn up onto her back with her magic. "Thanks...", he mumbled. Vinyl grinned. "No problem." They started walking again. With Comet and Fencer, they encountered the third non threatening pony. Fencer found a stick on the ground, took out her whittling knife, made it into a foil, and then Fencer told him to get a stick off the ground and she would carve it into a foil too. He glared at her for telling him what to do, but he did it anyways. Comet looked at Fencer like, 'what the hay?', but let her do her thing. When Fencer was done with his 'foil', she gave it back to him. "Alright stallion, time to duel! Start!" Fencer lunged at him full force. The stallion, was able to parry her moves for a good while, Fencer had met her match for sure. They had gotten each other a few times, so more scars for Fencer... the stallion will have quite a few scars too.
After a while though, his stamina was wearing down, but Fencer's was still good. So finally as he was getting worn out, she defeated him. The authorities were able to get yet another one of the squad. With Lyra and Flitter, their search was uneventful. With AB and Scooter, they had a run in with the 4th non threatening DMS member. With teamwork, they beat her. "Not so tough now, are you?", Scootaloo said as she was being taken away. The Unicorn was not happy with that comment. With Pinkie and Twilight, they encountered the 3rd of the threatening ponies. "Well well well, if it isn't the Element of Magic and Element of Laughter. Come here to be beaten by the Dark Magic Squad?"
"Dark Magic Squad? Is that what you're calling yourselves?", she asked. The mare merely smirked. "I'll take that as a yes..." The mare didn't give Twilight much time to say anything else, as she attacked. Twilight, just barely in time, erected a barrier around her and Pinkie. The mare attacked and attacked the barrier, trying to chip at it. Twilight used this time to think of offensive spells. When her barrier broke, Twilight unleashed an offensive spell right at the mare, but it just barely grazed her. The mare laughed. "What was that?! That was a pathetic aim. This is how you aim properly!", she launched another attack, which Twilight dodged, but unknown to her, it was heading for Pinkie, who was behind her, knowing she had no chance against a Unicorn, so she hid behind Twilight. Twilight noticed this and was just barely able to get to Pinkie as she noticed almost too late, and pushed Pinkie out of the way and took the hit. Twilight yelled out in pain.
"Twilight!", Pinkie shouted. Then she looked at the mare who attacked Twilight and Pinkie got defensive of her marefriend. Pinkie took a defensive stance, then charged. The pony raised her eyebrow. Twilight looked up, "Pinkie, no! You don't stand a chance against her!" Pinkie still kept charging, "So?! You got hurt, for me Twilight. You don't think I'm going to sit around while you take my hits? I'm going to take my chances, and if I get hurt... well... then that's what happens." Twilight sighed, and she stood up in pain. As Pinkie charged, they all heard a, "No!" and Pinkie skidded to a stop, just inches away from the DMS pony. "What the hay?", they all asked. There was the 2nd threatening DMS member with Vinyl and Spitfire. "Pink pony, please don't hurt her. Bella, please stop this madness."
Bella (yh yh yh, I'm out of pony ideas, so sue me . I have 40 OC ponies, one of them a zebra, and I don't have an unlimited amount of pony names in my head .) looked at the 2nd dangerous pony. "What the hay Camo? What's gotten into you?" Camo smiled, "True friendship. Please Bella, let true friendship into your heart too. These two ponies with me, they sympathize with us. Though they don't know from experience what we've been through, they understand." Twilight and Pinkie look at Bella confusedly. "What happened?" Bella gave a defiant look and turned away. Camo explained. Twilight and Pinkie did look sorry for them. "I'm so sorry... if only we knew... Bella, Camo is right, even though we haven't went through what you all did, we understand your situation. Please, let true friendship into your heart, and we can stop this fighting.", Twilight said. Bella stayed where she was, with her back turned to them.
Camo, out of desperation for his friend, basically sister to him, to understand, tried moving. Vinyl, of course, felt this and said, "Camo, don't move, you'll only hurt yourself further." Camie was determined though. "I don't care, I want Bella to understand true friendship." Camie, after about a minute of struggling, finally was able to move his body, but slowly. He went to Camo, and put a foreleg around her shoulders, comforting, and trying to hold himself up. "Camo, you should have listened to that pony... you don't look too good right now." Camo gave a defiant look, "So? Bella, please don't blow the chance to become good, to stop the fighting. These ponies are understanding, they will forgive you, they already forgave me. The pink and lavender ponies seem ok too." Bella sighed and thought. "You sure they'll forgive and be good to us?" Camo smiled and nodded. Bella looked down, then turned around, after levitating Camo on her back.
"... Fine, I'll give you four a chance... if you show any sign of non-friendship or betrayal of our trust, I will attack. Got that?" The four nodded. So, they all then set out to find Lucky's soul together, the four good ponies watching the 2 DMS members. With Dashing and Babs, they had encountered the 4th dangerous and 5th non dangerous at once. A stallion and a mare, respectively. Babs took on the non threatening and Dashing took on the threatening one. They circled around. "Well Pegasus, those wings look valuable, and very intriguing. Out of this world too, don't ya think?" Dashing snorted. "That's because they are out of this world. I come from a distant far away planet in another galaxy called Zoranth. The gold on my wings, that's normal for us Zoranthians." The stallion smirked. "Then is the gold on your wings valuable on this planet?" Dashing shrugged, "Maybe, maybe not." The stallion glared, not the answer he was hoping for.
"Well then, I'll rip your wings off and then we'll see." Dashing made an angry face, "Like Tartaros you will!" Dashing then charged at the stallion with full force, flying inches above the ground. The stallion charged at him, preparing a torturing spell. Just a split second before Dashing collided with the stallion, the stallion hit him with the spell. Dashing still flew into him, but Dashing fell to the ground as soon as he hit the stallion, and both were on the ground, writhing in fierce pain. Babs was holding out decently for her being an Earth pony against a Unicorn. They both were definitely getting their exercise. Though, in the end Babs won and authorities got the last non threatening DMS member, thankfully. Babs then jumped in to help Dashing, who was just barely starting to wear down the stallion. "No Babs, leave this to me. He's too powerful for you to take on, even with my help."
Babs, not happy, obeyed him. Dashing and the stallion still fought. "Man, this is one epic fight...", Rainbow said, her and Applejack arriving just behind Babs. Babs turned around. "Yeah, I know right? Dashing told me I couldn't fight because this is a dangerous pony..." Applejack smiled, "Well he'd be right. Leave it to us older ponies. We'll sort 'em out." Babs sighed and continued watching the fight. Dashing finally won eventually. Authorities came and took him away in a straight jacket and with a no-spell ring on his horn. They always have quite a few saved, just in case. The other non threatening members they put non magic rings on their horns too, to be safe. Dashing went over to them panting, and bruised and beat up, much like the ones who have fought other DMS members, well, the ones who fought DMS member are bruised and beat up, but not out of breath anymore .
"Wow, he was tough." Rainbow nodded, "Because he was one of the more threatening members of the Dark Magic ponies. Though, I do have to say... That. Was. Awesome! Ya know, you're not so bad after all Dashing." Dashing smiled sheepishly, "Heh, thanks." So then they went in search of Lucky's soul as well. With Fluttershy and Rarity, they ran into the last threatening member of the DMS. "Oh my goodness oh my goodness oh my goodness... what do we do?" Rarity looked at her fiancee and said, "Well, as much as I hate to say it Fluttershy, we must fight. For Equestria's sake, for our niece's sake." Fluttershy whined a small whine. Rarity nuzzled her. "Oh how cute... not...", the mare said. Rarity looked over to the mare, a determined look on her face. "Alright, let's get this over with..." Rarity prepared to fight. Fluttershy, she tried to look brave, but it failed. Though, with her fiancee, she could fight with her.
So, the fighting commenced. Meanwhile, while the fight is going on, Lucky's soul happened to walk by. She looked over at her Aunts fighting a Unicorn. "Oh no... I didn't want this to happen... no, please, don't fight!" Lucky galloped over to them. Fluttershy looked just in time to see Lucky's soul. "L-Lucky?" Rarity stopped fighting and looked at Fluttershy, then at where she was staring at. Her eyes got wide and tearful. "Oh my stars, Lucky! We've found your soul! Or, well, more like you found us." The mare from DMS scoffed, "So your Princess found you. Congrats, now let's continue this!" The Unicorn charged. Lucky said in her Princess Voice, "DO NOT DARE TOUCH AUNT RARITY, YOU EVIL BEING WHO HAS EMBRACED THE DARK SIDE!" The Unicorn stopped dead in her tracks. Lucky's Princess Voice had definite and true authority in it.
That also drew the attention of the ponies searching for her soul, but also unfortunately, woke up almost everypony in the city. There were mutterings of anger at being woken up. Though, it was just about 5 AM, so they had to wake up soon. The ponies looking for Lucky however, all went in the direction of where they heard her voice, Pegasi flying, Unicorns and Earth ponies galloping hard and full speed. Lucky then lifted up into the air, and flew right into the body of the Dark Magic user. The mare struggled against Lucky invading her body, but it was futile. Lucky searched her mind, to find out why she was doing this. She went back into the mare's past. Fluttershy and Rarity were speechless, not knowing a soul could do that kind of thing. Lucky finally reached the point of the mare's memory to where she will watch what happened. After that was over, the mare was crying. Lucky went out of her body.
Lucky stood in front of the mare and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Now, don't cry. I understand your situation Maisie." (fun fact, Maisie means pearl, so it's legit XD so she has a special talent with pearls XD) Maisie glared at Lucky and hit her hoof off her shoulder. "Don't call me that and don't try to understand me or what I've been through. You'll never understand..." Lucky tilted her chin up so that Maisie had to look at her. "Maisie, don't try to deny help. I know what your situation is like. My friends who are twins were actually raised in a horrid household, with parents who didn't give two pony feathers about them. I helped them out of that house. Thunder herself even was a bully. She wasn't evil like you and your Squad, but she was bad enough to be a bully and not care for anything other than her twin." Maisie looked at Lucky and tilted her head. "Really?" Lucky nodded. Maisie looked down and sighed. "Fine... you win Princess..." Lucky smiled gently. "Thank you Maisie." Lucky took her hoof off of Maisie's chin and then turned to Rarity and Fluttershy.
"Let's go back to Ponyville, shall we?" Rarity stepped forward. "Um, there are more looking for you Lucky. We have to wait for them to come, no doubt they heard your Princess Voice." Lucky's spirit blushed and grinned sheepishly. "Oh, ok then." Soon, everypony who was looking for Lucky gathered to where her soul is. Everypony was all teary eyed and crying, even the stallions. Some ponies were bruised and beat up, but nothing major. "Everypony, you didn't have to fight for me... and... who are the two new ponies I don't know?" Spitfire, Vinyl, Pinkie, and Twilight stepped forward with the two DMS members. "These two are Bella and Camo. They are part of the DMS, Dark Magic Squad, the organization who was trying to take you down and take over Ponyville. We helped them let true friendship into their hearts, so they're basically good now.", Twilight said. "I see. Just like Maisie here." Maisie went to her two friends. Camo was back on his hooves now. Bella and Camo both put a foreleg over Maisie's shoulders.
"Lucky, we're so glad you're safe.", Rainbow said. Applejack and Sweetie nodded. "Me too, but now we should get home. Follow me everypony. Maisie, you can ride on my back if you like. Featherweight, Derpy, you two carry the other two DMS members. Let's head back to Ponyville and back to my body." Everypony nodded and then the ponies who rode the Pegasi and Alicorns here, got back on the same Pegasus and Alicorn they rode. So then, the Pegasi took off, the Alicorns too. Lucky, being soul form, is still able to carry somepony.