private Corrupted Harmony IC (1x1 with Driz)

[Driz 1,552]

Lory sharply turned her head to face Sunset Shimmer. Her brow was furrowed deep and her pupils were shrunk in a furious expression. For an instance, she could feel her body heating up progressively and her muscles were all tensed up. Upon being called out by Sunset, the mare stared daggers back at her, but did nothing else. The following seconds were composed of a deadly staring contest, with Lory about to explode.

A few moments past, she finally began relaxing. She continued to stare at Sunset with sheer anger in her eyes, but she did back up from professor Helios. Huffing and puffing like an spoiled child who got denied a new toy, she took a seat; silently.

Under his breath, Helios sighed in relief. He looked over to Sunset Shimmer and nodded in agreement, letting her speak for them. For the very least, it seemed like Lory respected Sunset considerably more than she did the Pegasus stallion intruder. With that in mind, he decided to maintain his calm as to avoid a possible disaster.

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@Driz

Sunset Shimmer gave Lory a lookover for a second. "Better. Now, we have planning to do for our next attack on Twilight's forces. However, we must work together on this. ALL of us. Or we aren't going to get anywhere, Okay?" 

[Driz 1,552]

Lory remained perfectly still, breathing slowly and loudly, while her eyes were fixated on Sunset Shimmer.

Helios glanced at Lory from the corner of his eye. After a brief moment, he cleared his throat and took a step forward.

"...We believe it would be best if we manage to get past Princess Twilight's soldiers undetected." He began. "Her army can effortlessly overcome ours in number alone. By my calculations, the ponies under control of the Light magic emanating from the Tree of Harmony sum up to about five times more than those currently residing here, at the Crystal Empire." The professor paced around, as if he was lecturing one of his classes.

"If we are to follow this plan, I suggest we begin by investigating Miss Glimmer's former reigning grounds: the Town of Green Bricks... If we find the absence of Princess Twilight's troops there, utilizing the underground tunnels Miss Glimmer had dug would perhaps provide us with the upper hoof on our next advance."

"...Right." Lory quietly responded at last.

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@Driz

Starlight Glimmer smirked evily at that. "Well then...lets get going shall we?" she suggested. They started to head out. Sunset Shimmer kept an eye on Lory. A close eye. Starlight didn't really seem to care about Lory though. She kinda enjoys to see her angry, just like when Starlight was angry before.

[Driz 1,552]

As they walked, Lory stayed slightly in front of the group while Helios lagged shortly behind. The stallion looked up at Lory with sorrow in his eyes. On a whim, he decided to pick up his pace and approach Lory, standing right next to her.

"Miss Vox..." He announced his arrival. "I simply felt the need to tell you that everything is going to be fine. I am not here to impose any rules; Celestia forbid, I am not one to dictate how you act... I am simply aiding you. Like old times." He said, to which he received no responses. "...We will make it through this. Together." After he said that, Lory sped up and went farther ahead, leaving Helios behind. He sighed, and continued to walk.

Helios slowed down his pace once again and trotted near Starlight Glimmer.

"Any guesses on what is the current state of your town?"

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@Driz

Sunset Shimmer sighed a little sadly upon Lory's behavior, But at least she isn't pounding him into the ground and shouting in rage. Starlight smirked evily. "My skeletons know how to defend. Make no mistake." she says, slightly menacingly though. 

[Driz 1,552]

"That is... definitely pleasant to hear." Helios chuckled. "I can only hope we can manage to overcome this threat in due time... Celestia knows our time is limited." He lowered his head slightly, becoming pensive. "I just cannot fathom what could possibly have happened to the Princess for her to have turned out like this. If I just had the answers... perhaps we could find a way to bring everything to a peace."

[Props Valroa 22,527]

@Driz

Starlight shrugged. "Beats me why she is acting like this." she replied. Sunset Shimmer sighed. "It was just a regular day and then...boom all this happened for like no reason at all." she said. Eventually they reached the town of green brick. Skeletons are walking about, they don't attack though. The town looks rather...empty.

[Driz 1,552]

Lory stopped walking once they arrived at the destination and began to scan the area around. Right behind her, Helios did the same. They both remained silent for a while, wondering a vast array of possibilities.

After a short while, Helios took a short step forward.

"I would suggest we proceed with caution..." He said. "I shall be the one to mention that the situation seems... way too calm."

"Why wouldn't she be here already!?" Lory inquired, peeved. "There's no way she didn't notice 'Stache is with us now. Why wouldn't she take control of this place?"

"Everything in due time..." The stallion approached. "Let us investigate the tunnels before we reach a solid conclusion."

[Props Valroa 22,527]

@Driz

Starlight started to lead them to the tunnels, Sunset and Starlight kept on a watch to make sure no enemy forces were coming. It just seemed...too quiet. Too calm. Way to calm, there was no wind either. After a few minutes, helios saw a purple wing sticking out from behind a tree. A slight glow of white was seen too.

[Driz 1,552]

Lory began moving forward along with Starlight and Sunset, occasionally glancing at her surroundings as to avoid any sort of surprises. A few steps taken, however, the mare noticed somepony was missing. Promptly, she looked behind her to see Helios Whitequill standing still, looking into the distance towards the forest outside of town.

"...Hey Dork. What's keeping ya?" She called out to him.

Helios perked his ears and looked over at Lory.

"I... Well..." He stuttered a bit. "...Proceed without me for now. I shall meet with you soon." After saying that, he started walking towards the direction of where he thought he saw something peculiar.

Lory simply stared at him with an utterly confused look in her eyes. She kept still for a few more seconds before grunting and shaking her head in disapproval. "Oh, for crying out loud." She exhaled and switched course, choosing to follow Helios instead of Sunset and Starlight.

Helios poked his head carefully around the back of the houses, towards the forest, scanning his surroundings attentively.

"What's going on, dude!?" Lory trotted right behind him.

[Props Valroa 22,527]

@Driz

Suddenly from behind a tree a dark purple pegasus revealed himself. Glowing eyes of light. However that wasn't the most of their concerns as they saw a flash of white powerful light from behind them along with a resounding crack. They all turned around, and they saw....Twilight Sparkle, with white glowing crystal horseshoes, light swirled around her alicorn wings. The stars on her cutie mark were white, and white magic flowed from her light purple eyes. "What have we got here...?" she said oddly calmly and serenely. 

[Driz 1,552]

((OOC: Sorry for the delay... Had troubles with my internet connection. ))

Both Lory and Helios, in nearly perfect unison, sharply turned around to meet with the bearer of that spine-chilling voice.

The professor's eyes shot wide open. He remained still, staring back at Twilight as if he was facing against a deadly venomous snake ready to strike. He swallowed dry for a moment before finally speaking up: "...Princess Sparkle." Helios fought against his polite manners urging him to bow down before the Royal presence. He did not.

Lory immediately took a short leap backwards, promptly assuming a battle stance. She shone her horn bright with her wine-colored magical aura. However, nothing happened. The pink mare took a desperate glance towards her back to find the absence of her trusty weapon: her wooden bat was gone. She had completely and utterly forgot about the fact that her weapon had been torn to pieces by Helios' explosion back then. She grit her teeth in anger, yet, did not make any abrupt movements. She was defenseless.

Helios took a step forward, positioning himself between Lory and Twilight.

"To what we owe the pleasure of your illustrious presence?" He calmly asked with a half smile.

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@Driz

Princess Sparkle got a bit closer to him, she chuckled at Lory's behavior. "You really need a teacher...you could be my student...we can rule this world together..." she said to her in a rather motherly and cooing tone. Sunset did an eyeroll. "Why are you like this?" she asks. "Oh, I'm from another world and I'm here to conquer the next!" she said proudly, and then rolled her eyes. "And your standing in the way of that...aren't you?" she asks. Starlight growled. "Indeed, and you are coming down right this instant!" she snapped. Twilight chuckled lowly. "Ah, yes...the spirit of fright. Good to see a fellow spirit there." she said. Starlight raised an eyebrow at her. "Fellow spirit?" she asked.

Twilight paused for a second there and did an evil grin. "I'm the spirit of...why should I tell you?!" she said, losing her smile. "Take it away fellas." she said in mischievous tone. A dozen worms started to come out of her chest, although it wasn't in the..way you'd expect. They appeared to summon in, and come out with a purple glow. No signs of pain or anything from Twilight. The worms were long and purple, menacing mandibles and had a sort of distorting effect to them. They started to attack the group, and were rather quick. Sunset Shimmer and Starlight started firing lasers at them and fighting them. 

As Twilight sat back and appeared to be relaxing the battle, her mane and tail glowed like that of Celestia's or Luna's but it was a sort of..Twilight sky with some stars and planets shining through. Quite pretty. 

Edited September 27, 2017 by Twilight Witch

[Driz 1,552]

As soon as he took note of the creatures flying out, in an instant act of reflex, Helios extended out his right wing. In the same motion as he did that, a small glass container, just like the one he'd used previously against Lory, was flung - however, this one possessed a bright-red colored grainy substance inside. When the container shattered on the ground, a massive wall of flames suddenly erupted in front of him. It was about two times the professor's height and it extended a little farther than his total wingspan: enough to protect him and Lory from the volley that was to come.

As some of Twilight's worms passed through the flame barrier, they quickly caught on fire and crashed onto the ground, burnt to crisps. Not a moment too late, Helios turned around and began trotting rapidly away. "Move!" He ordered his pink unicorn companion, almost shoving her down a narrow alleyway between a couple of buildings back inside the town. Lory didn't think twice about running right after her mentor.

...

The two eventually took hiding behind a house, getting separated from Starlight and Sunset. Helios quickly sat down on the ground and stretched out his wings, revealing a vast array of multi-colored small glass bottles and vials strapped onto his leather armor. He selected a few, positioning them upfront.

Lory sat down next to him, staring at Helios for a while with an irate look on her face. "Yeah, thanks for blowing up my only weapon to pieces back there, jackass!! Sure it would be useful right now to have something to protect myself with!!" She complained, peeved.

Helios closed his eyes and furrowed his brow, evidently bothered. "For the last time, Lorianne, you triggered that explosion yourse--" Before he could manage to finish his sentence, one of Twilight's worm monsters suddenly burst through the green brick wall of the house they were hiding behind. The creature's sharp jaws slashed through Helios' left wing, cutting it a decent amount. The professor flinched in pain, unable to react.

Lory swiftly levitated a piece of green brick she found laying on the ground and tossed it towards the worm, knocking it away.

[Props Valroa 22,527]

@Driz

Twilight danced around the fight like a playful mare. Watching the fight. Sunset Shimmer sent out black lasers that seemed to separate into smaller ones. Taking out some of the worm monsters. Starlight sent a blast of fear fight into the air, catching a few of the worms in it who then went out of the area in fear. Starlight proceeded to send a few lasers and fear fire towards Twilight who responded by sending a sort of white fire up in a barrier infront of her, the flames appeared to cancel eachother out.Twilight then did a chuckle and charged forward at Starlight, Starlight swiftly dodged and kicked Twilight in the side, sending her into a wall, Twilight responded by doing a quick teleport before she could hit the wall.

Twilight watched as her worms fought Lory and Helios. She flew in close enough to gently pet their backs before teleporting to a roof. "There is no need to fight, we are all the same side here..." Sunset scolded them both.

[Driz 1,552]

"AS IF!!" She sharply responded to Sunset, gritting her teeth. She looked over at Helios next to her, seeing his wounded wing. Despite that scratch, he seemed completely fine - his calm, concentrated demeanor everlasting. She got back up on her hooves. "Cover me!" She told the professor and quickly began trotting rapidly away. "Lorianne, wait!" He called out, albeit to no avail.

While running, Lory stared above her surroundings, looking for any means she could find to climb up. A medium-sized trash can rested next to a crumbling brick wall, when the mare took note of them. She leaped onto the can, immediately hopped right to the top of the wall and, from there, jumped as high as she could, managing to grab onto one of the house's gutters.

From there, she simply climbed up and found herself standing above the rooftops. She looked to the side, soon spotting Twilight Sparkle.

"TWILIIIIIIGHT!!" She angrily called her attention, ready to fight using any means necessary.

[Props Valroa 22,527]

@Driz

While the other worms occupied Starlight and Sunset's attention. Twilight smirked evily at Lory. "Oh, what are you trying to do? Take me down! Likely story!" she goaded, as a sort of white shield rose up around her. She rose into the air and then there was a very bright flash, and Twilight was fully armoured in purple armour that seemed to be distorting to look at. She charged straight at Lory. 

[Driz 1,552]

In a similar fashion, Lory began rapidly trotting towards Twilight. Barehoofed she was: but if anything else, she had conviction. Moments before the two came to clash, however, a bright-yellow streak suddenly appeared flying from the side and tackled Lory, falling down to the ground below.

Helios pinned Lory onto the pavement, staring at her. "Lorianne, I beg of you! Get a hold of yourself!" He desperately implored.

On the ground, the mare attempted to break free from Helios' hold. "L...Let... Me... Go!..." She urged while jerking her body around.

"Miss Shimmer!" He called out. "Distract the Princess!"

[Props Valroa 22,527]

@Driz

Sunset Shimmer then fired a black laser at Twilight's back leg who growled in pain. She backed away from the group, and a very bright flash happened, afterwards Twilight Sparkle was gone. Some of her worms were floating about though, Starlight was currently taking care of the them. However suddenly, Twilight appeared again on the other side and more worms were summoned.

[Driz 1,552]

"Grr-- You!-- Ughh!!... I said, get off of me!!" The mare kept squirming about in a desperate attempt to break free. Lory progressively became more and more infuriated the longer Helios had her seized. However, the professor was determined on not letting go of her so soon.

"You are only going to get yourself killed." Helios calmly explained. "Until you learn how to control your feelings, I am afraid I cannot let this go on... Forgive me." He achieved a sad look in his eyes. After that, the pegasus stallion began reaching for the potion arsenal hidden under his wing. From there, he carefully picked up another small glass container - that one, securing a marble-white coloration. He brought the vial closer to Lory's mouth.

For her part, she became even more agitated. She wanted - she needed to push Helios away by any means. She shut close her eyes tight while growling, displaying her fierce canines. In the middle of an overwhelming crossfire composed of laser beams and magical worms, she became hopeless. Unknowingly to her, her horn began glowing again. Her magical aura shone brighter than ever before, at the same rate that her head became lighter. Mustering every single ounce of vigor as possible, out of the blue, Lory Vox uttered for one last time:

"Let..."

           "Me..."

>>> GO!! <<<

Spoiler

 

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...

The massive force created by Lory's shout reverberated around a wide area near the group. A few of the nearby constructions could be seen quaking: a few loose bricks fell down to the ground and a considerable amount of dust puffed out from the walls. From the trees, birds took off in an emergency escape as their leaves shook uncontrollably. The glass recipient that Helios held in his hooves, shattered on its base. The liquid that it contained began running down his foreleg, dripping slowly on the ground below - wasted. One could feel slight tremors from below the very earth. Those events faded away fairly soon, luckily.

Helios had let go of his student: uncertain whether or not he did so willingly. His mouth was agape and his overall facial expression revealed nothing but sheer bewilderment. He felt like his eardrums had imploded: momentarily, he heard nothing but a high-pitched, ringing sound. His entire body became stiff-solid, unable to move a muscle. Anyone standing in the nearby vicinity had suffered from the same effect.

[Props Valroa 22,527]

@Driz

Twilight did a rather loud pained shriek in that. Some of the worms were destroyed by Lory's voice and the rest began fleeing. Sunset and Starlight's faces went to that of bewilderment and astonishment. They had halted their attacks momentarily, Twilight did the same, clutching her ears in extreme pain, and with a very pained expression on her face. The worms that had managed to escape and not be destroyed circled around Twilight in a rather defensive position, who had slowly begun to back away. Her eyes shined through her closed eyelids. Twilight was silent besides a low growl.

Sunset and Starlight were also in pain. They stood in a stunned silence.

[Driz 1,552]

Slowly but surely, Lory lifted herself up back on her fours. She was breathing heavily, clearly winded. The boom she'd accidentally performed had caused some fatigue. For a few seconds, she seemed to be just as shocked as the rest of the group. She eyed each one of them, confused by their reactions at first. More than anything else, she was startled.

The dead-silence remained for a couple moments more. All she could hear were the distant, panicked chirps from the birds that had flown away, in addition to other random animal cries from within the forest. Soon enough, Lory fixed her gaze on the stunned Twilight. At that moment, the realization of the current situation came rushing back to her. That was going to be the best chance she would get.

Readily, the pink mare began trotting rapidly towards the Light Princess, disregarding her comrades for the time being. She picked up her pace more and more, charging wildly. When she got close enough, Lory delivered a powerful headbutt to Twilight's chest, hoping to knock her out once and for all.

[Props Valroa 22,527]

@Driz

Twilight grunts in pain, not knocked out. Quite resilient. A purple flash of magic from Twilight occurs, Lory feels...Numbed in a way, also pushed back. However, Twilight realizes she isn't really in the best of fighting condition for now, and she vanishes. Twilight has a lot of tricks up her sleeve.

[Driz 1,552]

Lory shook her head, getting away from the torpid sensation caused by Twilight's flash. She raised her head back up to find out that the princess had disappeared from sight. Immediately, the mare began looking around frantically, trying to spot where she went.

"WHERE ARE YOU!?" She shouted into the nothingness. "Come out and fight, you coward!!"

Behind Lory, Helios Whitequill sluggishly crept up to her. Lory performed a sharp turn to meet eyes with him. A perplexed, somewhat horrified expression remained on the professor's feature, still attempting to grasp what had happened moments earlier. He'd recovered from the momentary dizziness and deafness.

"Lorianne...." He softly spoke. "W...What was that?" He inquired. "What happened just then?... That... spell you executed..."

Lory stared at him for a while, but soon turned back around and continued to look for their missing enemy. Not necessarily because she deliberately chose to ignore Helios, but mainly because she did not have the answer for his question.

...

Helios soon gave up on trying to speak to her, and instead trotted over to Starlight and Sunset, giving them a concerned look.

"Are you alright?"