It had been a few hours since Whiplash had set out to deliver the messages. In truth, it was going better than expected. He didn’t knock on the doors, nor did he talk to those he delivered to. He merely slipped the message under the door when he was certain that he had found the right household, and then took off before he was spotted. He had delivered almost all of the messages at this point. Whiplash peered at the sky as he trotted briskly down the street, trying to estimate the time. The sun was starting to set. He had a bit more time to finish his deliveries. He needed to be careful, however. He was certain that his pattern was starting to be noticed, which also meant that sooner or later questions would get asked.

Trudging along to bring his last message to where it needed to be, he noticed his headache was starting to resurface, and groaned. What was up with this headache? It seemed to show up at random, particularly when he was mad or frustrated. It was getting worse quickly, sending spikes of pain along his skull, beating his eyes, and stinging his ears. He raised a hoof to his head, as though somehow that would quell the pain. The headache finally leveled out, and stayed at a single level. It was still very painful. Moaning in pain, Whiplash stumbled as he took his next step. He fell off to his side, and collided rather harshly with a crate housing a lantern. The crate toppled, and the lantern fell to the side, and shattered on the ground.

Dazed, and in pain, Whiplash curled up into a ball, cradling his head in his hooves. The headache flared in intensity. He yelped at the sudden increase in pain, and then started to whimper as his body began to tremble. He was zoning out completely. His mind began to fluctuate to different topics, images, memories, and more. It rapidly shifted, slowly starting to focus on painful memories. Suddenly, the flashing memories lingered, halting on an image of a raging fire, tall, hot, and scorching. Crackling and licking away at a tall building, the flames consumed everything in their path.

They spread across the grass, and began to lick up his line of sight, causing him to scream in pain. He thrashed, and rolled, trying to get the infernal fires off of him, but to no avail. They wrapped around him like ropes, and reduced him to ashes. That was when he snapped back to reality. He basically woke up, panting, sweaty, and terrified. He slowly curled up into a tight ball, and wept. He was vaguely aware of a presence above him. Whiplash slowly turned his gaze up, and saw a pony looking at him with worried, yet at the same time, almost frightened eyes. He didn’t bother to memorize colors; he curled back up, and continued to cry the fear and pain out of his system.

They were quiet, contained sobs, but were still audible. Whiplash could make out the pony above him speaking. “Are you OK?”

He choked down a rather harsh sob, swallowed the lump in his throat, but didn’t answer. After what felt like an eternity, he regained his composure, and slowly stood on trembling legs. There were a few ponies around him, giving him worried looks. He honestly didn’t care what they saw, or what they thought of it, he still had a job to do. He took a few uneasy steps past the crowd. His headache remained. The question from before was repeated; “Are you OK?”

Whiplash sighed, and looked back to the small group of ponies. “I’ll be fine.” He said flatly. With a slight shake of his body to recompose himself, he started walking. The last house was easy enough to zero out by asking around a bit, and the last message was delivered. He slipped the slip of paper under the door, and walked away. The headache remained with him as he re-entered the park he called home. It had dulled a bit, but it was still there, causing his head to spike with pain every time his blood pumped through it. He settled himself down under his tree. His eyelids became heavy. With a heavy sigh, sleep took him into its cool embrace.

<><><><><>

“You’re getting better.” I said, whipping some sweat off of my brow. “But you still have a ways to go.” We had been training with each other for a while now. Five whole days with Lavender and her brother, and they were getting progressively better at this. I was also getting better at reading, though using my mouth to use any form of writing utensil was a bit more challenging to me. I stretched and let my body relax.

Lavender sighed and sat down on her haunches. “You really know your stuff.” She panted. She looked to her brother. “You ok, Autumn?”

Autumn leaf, her brother with his yellowish coat and a red mane, looked back to his sister. “I’ve had worse.”

“We all have.” I added. “Every day is a struggle for us.”

Lavender stood back up, and looked to me. “It was. But we’re here, now. Celestia and Luna are fighting back with all they have to keep us safe. Here, we don’t have anything to worry about.”

“What’s rule number one?” I asked. Lavender thought for a second, before answering me.

“Never let your guard down.” She said, looking down.

“In saying that we have nothing to worry about, you are dropping your guard. You’re letting a false sense of security take hold of your state of mind.” I explained. “So, don’t put too much faith in our defenders. Be ready to fight for yourself, if need be.” Lavender nodded slowly.

“Ok, right…” She stood back up on shaking legs. We’d been at this for a few hours at this point. I figured it was time for a break.

I shook myself, and trotted slowly over to the small station we’d set up in this abandoned room. It wasn’t exactly bursting with food, but it had enough to keep us satisfied. I sighed and sat down. What was that noise? It was a deep rumbling, barely audible. But it was getting louder. I began to feel nervous as the ground started to vibrate. What was going on? Suddenly, a horn sounded. I turned to Lavender. “Well, speak of the devil.” I commented. Autumn leaf looked around fearfully.

“What’s happening?” He asked.

“Oh no… that’s the alarm horn! We’re under attack!” Lavender said, trembling. I could see the worry in her eyes. I nodded.

“Alright, we aren’t soldiers. We need to get to the assembly hall. If what I remember is anything to go off of, the pony sisters will be getting everypony who isn’t able to fight out of here. I explained, and stood back up. Truth be told, I was terrified. But I wasn’t about to show these two who had shown me such kindness in the last few weeks that I was afraid. Their morale had to stay intact.

We burst into the open hallway, and made a mad dash for the main hall. As we ran, repeated shakes and loud booms and alarmed cries echoed through the corridors. The main halls doors were coming into clear view. ‘Almost there.” I panted. We entered the room, and stopped dead in our tracks. I would have hid. I would have run. But I knew it would be useless. There before me, his side facing me was Hopelock. And towering over him was a creature that caused my blood to turn to ice with fear. A creature I had only ever been close to once, and barely lived through the experience. Before me, towering above hopelock, was the being of darkness and spirit of chaos, as well as Equestrias primal ruler, Discord. A single, red pupil looked knowingly in my direction, before flicking forwards again.

“Hopelock, we have some uninvited guests to this little meeting. Do deal with them, if you would be so kind?” Discord said. Hopelock turned to me and my two friends. His mouth twisted into a wicked grin, and his eyes narrowed. His prized weapon, a thorny whip, unraveled form his side, encased in a red aura. It extended, allowing me to see its full, deadly length. “It’s been a while… Hasn’t it, whiplash?”Hopelock asked, chuckling. I took a step back, a cold sweat covering my body.

“Run.” I said. Plain and simple. We may know the basics of fighting, but against an enemy like Hopelock, we were hopelessly outclassed.

“What?” Autumn asked. “Why? We can take him.” He said the confidence evident in his voice.

“Autumn, WAIT!” Lavenders hushed voice turned into a scream as Autumn darted forwards. I channeled magic through my horn, and sent it out to try and grab and pull Autumn leaf away from Hopelock. The whip lashed out. I almost had him. The whip was faster. Autumn gasped as the thorny whip wrapped around his neck. Time seemed to slow down. My magic reached him before I could pull it back, and he was encased in my aura. Hopelock’s smirk deepened, and he yanked the whip. I tried desperately to release my hold. However, I was too slow. The whips thorns dug harshly and deeply into Autumns throat. I released my magical hold, and he dropped to the ground with an audible THUMP!

All was still. I slowly glared back up at Hopelock. Another life lost… because I was too slow. Because I couldn’t react in time. Because my fear strangled me, and made me stumble in the harshness of the situation. My face began to twitch with rage. “No…” Lavender choked out.

“Don’t make the same mistake.” I warned, my voice a growl. “We run.”

“Where?” Hopelock chuckled, stepping over his newest victim. “You know you can’t run. Blue Waltz couldn’t either. Nopony can run from me.” At the mention of Blue waltz, my mind froze. He was using her name as a tool to try and strike fear into me. But all he managed, was rage. Indescribable loathing, and pure hatred. My horn lit up. “You dare… use her name… against me?” I asked. Hopelocks smile deepened. “You DARE… After what you DID… speak of HER!?” My voice was rising. I snapped. My body acted on instinct alone.

“I WILL KILL YOU!” I screamed, and sent the strongest blast of magic I could at Hopelock. I poured all of my hatred, all of my fear and sorrow, and all of my guilt into the attack. The force of the shot knocked me back, sending me back through the door. I didn’t see the blast strike home, but I knew it hit its mark. A loud explosion rang out, and I could hear an agonized scream come from Hopelock. Inwardly, I smiled. That had felt good.

I stood, and charged back into the room. Hopelock was still standing, though he appeared to be gasping for breath, and in a lot of pain. I didn’t give him a chance to recover, but instead launched a barrage of magic at my foe. The blasts were not nearly as strong as the first, and many missed, but those that didn’t made Hopelock cry out and stagger away. I could feel my reserves dwindling. If I didn’t kill Hopelock now, I would have no means of defending myself form whatever attacks he would launch at me.

I let out another scream as I poured more of my emotion into one, final attack. I felt the energy gather on my horn, and then I let it fly. Another explosion, this one I could see. I heard Hopelock cry out again. Smoke and dust billowed outwards from the point of Impact. I staggered, trying and failing to keep decent balance. I suddenly fell, gasping raggedly for breath. Everything was hazy. I overdid it. Badly. I tried to stand, but my legs refused to respond. I hoped That Hopelock was dead. Else this day would be getting much worse.

<><><><><>

Whiplash stirred in his sleep, groaning as he tried to open his eyes. Something was undeniably wrong, he could feel it. A strange feeling nagged at him, like a tug, alongside of the horrible headache. He could also hear movement all around him, hurried hoof steps and distant cries of alarm. He lifted his head, and tiredly opened his aching eyes. It was dark out. Easily in the middle of the night. However, something bright was in the distance. It flickered and waved, casting brilliant orange and yellow light all around.

Fire. Whiplashes eyes suddenly shot wide open. There was a fire not far away, encompassing an entire building, and spreading to others. Ponies were desperately trying to bring water buckets to the forefront, trying to douse and slow the fires spread, but to no avail. It continued tirelessly, and relentlessly, devouring the houses in licking arks of yellow embers. Whiplash slowly got to his feet, his joints creaking in protest. He stumbled slightly as the headache flared. E heard cries of surprise, and the fires suddenly became far more audible. He looked up, and saw that the fire had flared dramatically, growing in size. That’s when Whiplash heard it. From within the fire, and raging inferno, a cry of terror.

“Somepony’s in there!” A pony shouted. Whiplash watched, trying to keep his headache under control. He wanted desperately to help, but he had no way of doing so. His ears fell, and he took a step away. To him, it was clear that he was powerless. The headache flared, and something exploded. Whiplash wasn’t sure what, but he could only assume it was a gas lamp. Flames burst into the air, and faded away as they descended towards the ground.

“Watch out!” A voice called. Whiplash tensed, and looked around. Nothing was in plain sight, yet his mind was raising red flags. Before he could move, a hot, heavy weight struck him from behind and above, crushing him into the earth. He cried out in surprise, and that surprise quickly turned to agony. Something was burning his back, and it was heavy, preventing him from running. He quickly collapsed to the ground, and could not get back up. The heat grew more intense, causing him to scream in pain.

He felt around with his magic, trying to get a hold on whatever it was pinning him down, but the pain completely dispelled his concentration. He gasped and screamed again as he felt his fur begin to burn, and the realization dawned on him that he was catching on fire. Several unicorns were gathered around him, trying to lift the heavy mass off of him with their magic. But their efforts were slow, despite how many of them there were. Whiplash began to feel faint as the pain hit a crescendo. The world began to spin, his eyes became heavy, his breath became ragged, and irregular. The flames spread rapidly, coating more of his body in its deadly licks. He closed his eyes, ready to just give up.

A cry of joy sounded. Whiplash heavily lifted his eyelids, and spotted something. It was a dark mass looming over him, up in the air. It suddenly began to fluctuate, and water fell upon him, drowning out the flames, and also drowning out his consciousness.