Chapter 1: The Balance of Good and Evil
The late-morning sun beamed through the clear blue sky, casting light over the entire world, but onto one structure in-particular. A vast temple, constructed purely of white marble, stood out juxtaposed to everything surrounding it. A beam of blue light cascaded down from a heavens even higher than this mount, producing from it a young, winged, man, clothed in a simple white tunic, an olive branch encircled his head, helping hold his mop of brown hair in place.
"Always good to come home," the man said as he made his way toward the temple entrance through a circular courtyard. It didn't take him long to reach the main room of the temple, in which stood a towering statue, made of the same marble as the rest of the building, but accentuated with areas of gold and other precious materials, "I'm here Lady Palutena," the man's voice echoed through the halls of the temple, awaiting a reply, which he didn't have to wait long for.
"Good to see you again, Pit," a woman's voice greeted him, seemingly coming from the statue, "it's been awhile since you've been in my temple."
"Well, you know, I aim to please."
A bright, sparkling light emanated from the statue. The man did not flinch or even cover his eyes, as he was used to this display. In a matter of moments, a woman stood before him. Lady Palutena, the Goddess of Light. She wore a flowing, strapless, white dress, slit up the left side to allow for easier walking, ornamented with a swath of multi-colored silk held in place with a large red brooch on her left hip. Around her neck hung a large golden medallion which resembled the sun and its rays, signifying her stature. On her head sat a bronze wreath, like a crown atop her calf-length locks of teal hair. In her right hand, she held a blue staff, the same length as her height, which was topped by a gold head which bore a striking resemblance to the Capricorn Zodiac symbol. A blue sphere magically floated just above the head.
"I have brought you here for a very important mission," the goddess said, walking, no, gliding, toward Pit, "There is a very clear and present danger that we must rid the world from."
"Awesome," Pit exclaimed, always excited about a fight, "so who are we fighting? What are they doing? Where are you sending me first?" Palutena smiled and chuckled at his reaction.
"Those two last questions are a bit...complicated," she said with some slight hesitation, "but the first one I can answer for you now. Hades has escaped from the Ethereal Plane."
"What," Pit exclaimed again, this time gasping in shock, "When? How?" Palutena raised her hands, trying to calm him down.
"I'm afraid I don't exactly know how he did it," she sighed, "but it was only twenty-four hours ago, we have plenty of time to stop whatever it is he has planned." This statement had the effect of calming Pit, allowing him to breathe a little easier.
"OK, so how do we start?"
"Come with me," Palutena beckoned, motioning for Pit to walk with her deeper into the temple.
The two soon made it to a smaller room in the temple in which sat nothing but a large black granite table. Palutena moved her hands over the table, which made an image appear.
"You remember defeating Hades, of course," Palutena began, as the magic table showed a picture of Pit using a giant mechanical suit of armor to attack Hades, "After he went down, his soul, what little there was, was sent to the Ethereal Plane, a sort of limbo where we gods could keep an eye on him."
"But he got out anyhow," Pit almost whispered, "what could he be up to?"
"Fortunately, I have been able to trace Hades' godly power. He's been tracked here," Palutena waved her hands again, which brought up a map. A map of a place that was unfamiliar to Pit. It looked like a very large island, with moutains, rivers, lakes, and many cities and towns.
"Where is this place," Pit asked in slight awe of the land.
"This is Equestria."
"How do we get there," Pit looked up at last.
"It's going to be a tough trip," Palutena sighed, "you see, Equestria is not in this world. It is in a different dimension entirely. My theory is that after Hades realized he couldn't reach the physical plane in this world, he figured out how to jump dimensions to someplace where he could."
"So what are we waiting for," Pit cried, almost running for the door on instinct.
"No need to be quite so hasty," Palutena responded, smiling, "Fortunately, I've already done all the research I could about this world, and I know exactly who we need to go to first."
*--*--*--*--*
Twenty-Four Hours Earlier
Two bright green eyes peered out into the darkness, just as they did every day, just as they had every day since their exile to this black place. And the longer they peered, the longer the woman behind those eyes had to sit there and stew and think about her defeat, the more vile and black her heart became. But she still needed a plan. Somehow, she needed a better plan than her last one, one that brought even the Princess herself to her knees. So close, but yet, so far.
"My, my, my, a little troubled are we," a dark voice asked from the shadows. The woman was stunned. It had been so long since she had heard another voice, "Well don't just sit there and wallow. Please, enlighten me."
The woman narrowed her eyes, the thin, black horn coming from her head emitting a dull green glow. She searched for the source of the voice, but nobody seemed to be around. The woman shook her head and sighed, content to believe that she was just imagining things. The glow from her horn began to fade.
"Now hold on there, missy," the voice spoke again, this time with a tad bit of annoyance, "I know what it's like to sit in the dark too. A little light never hurt anybody." The woman strengthened the glow again.
"If you are really there," the woman said, more than a touch of bitterness in her voice, "then make yourself be seen."
A gust of cold air rushed over the woman for a moment. She saw a dark, faint, ball of gas swirl infront of her face. Within moments, something materialized. A head, a man's head to be precise, just floating in the ether. The head smiled at her with a big grin, showing off a nice set of teeth.
"Happy now," the head asked. The woman he addressed narrowed her eyes and tilted her head, having never seen anything like this before.
"Who, or rather, what, are you?"
"My name is Hades," the head answered, tossing to the left a bit to get some of his dark black hair out of his face, "and where I come from, they know me as the Lord of the Underworld." The woman smiled and chuckled.
"Guess that means I really am in Hell," she laughed at her witty little wordplay. Hades was not amused.
"I am not from your world," he tried to explain, "I am from another dimension entirely. You see, I was the victim of terrible treason brought against me by my fellow immortals. So now, I am only a soul, a shadow, a bodyless vapor. I have come to this world looking for a body, a physical form, that I may take so that I can avenge my...not death...uh, disembodiment."
"Well since you were so kind as to answer my question, I'll tell you who I am. I am Queen Chrysalis, ruler of the Changlings, beings who can change their physical form into anything they desire, for awhile anyway. I am here in this dark exile for trying to drain all the love and harmony out of Equestria."
"It seems I've come across the perfect person to help me, then," Hades smiled, his red eyes growing in size, "Tell you what, I'll scratch your back, if you scratch mine. You help me return to a physical form, and before I leave for my world, I'll help you take over yours. Do we have a deal?" Chrysalis turned this over in her head, wondering if she could trust the stranger, and whether or not he could succeed where she had failed.
"We have a deal," she said, looking over and magically picking up one of her Changling underlings off the ground, "I'll fuse your soul with this body, that should do the trick." Hades was a little hesitant.
"I'm the Lord of the Underworld, you know, or did I forget to mention that? My might and power would not be very appreciated inside such a little body." Chrysalis groaned.
"My magic can get you back to a physical form, how you looked before. A reasonable size, of course. I'm sure in your world, you're a giant."
"I can be whatever size I want, or whatever size you need," Hades leered. Chrysalis didn't think too long about what he said.
"OK, in you go," Chrysalis' horn glowing much brighter than before, as she magically swirled Hades' soul into the Changlings body. In a matter of moments, the magic ended and Hades stood before her in the dark, fully clothed, just as he had been when he was struck down.
"Not too shabby," he remarked, looking himself over to make sure he was all there, "now I will help you with your little problem."
"Just as we agreed," Chrysalis stood and reached out her black hand.
"I believe this is the beginnings of a most fruitful partnership," Hades smiled as he took Chrysalis' hand in his own and shook it.
Ponyville, Equestria
The otherwise crystal clear blue sky above the city where friendship was preserved was sliced by a rainbow streak. The creator of the streak, a blue pegasus known as Rainbow Dash, did as her name suggested, trying to get to town as quickly as possible. Her friends were all meeting at the local bakery, Sugarcube Corner, and she wasn't going to be the last one to the party. When she made it to the eatery, she didn't even stop to land, choosing instead to simply fly right through the front door with a slight crash.
"I'm...here..." Rainbow said between pants. Everypony else in the establishment simply stared at her with expressions ranging from surprise to annoyance.
"Ah good," the lavender alicorn known to the elite as Princess Twilight Sparkle, but to her friends as Twilight, said, rising from her previous seated position, "now that everypony's here, we can begin."
"So why exactly did you call us here," Applejack, an orange cowpony said, leaning back in her chair far enough to put her boots up on the table.
"Yeah, Twilight," Pinkie Pie bounced in front of her friend, grinning like a foal, "it's like some kind of secret surprise, and you know how much I love surprises."
"Calm down, everypony," Twilight tried to continue, "it's really quite simple. I have received urgent correspondence from Celestia."
The words 'urgent' and 'Celestia' seemed to get everypony's undivided attention.
"Well, out with it, darling," Rarity, Ponyville's premier fashionista, urged, "what does the princess need from us?"
"The truth is, I'm not sure," Twilight explained, shrugging her shoulders.
"What do ya mean, you're not sure," Applejack protested, her booted hooves landing hard on the floor, "y'all didn't call all us down here for no reason."
"It's true AJ," a teenage dragon known as Spike tried to explain, rising to stand next to Twilight, "all the letter said was, and I quote, 'Twilight, please bring your friends to Canterlot, an urgent matter has come to my attention.' That was it."
"Well what are we just sitting around for," Rainbow exclaimed, beginning to push one of her friends, a fellow pegasus named Fluttershy, out the door, "we gotta get to the train station, ASAP!"
"Or we could just use this," Twilight calmly said, producing a strange metallic sphere, which was hovering in her purple aura of magic.
"Oooohhhh," Pinkie gawked, "what is that thing, Twilight?"
"A much faster mode of transportation," the alicorn explained, "I may not be able to teleport the seven of us all the way to Canterlot yet, but this little gadget can. Everypony gather round."
Six of the seven quickly made a circle around the hovering object. They all paused when they realized who was missing.
"Um...wouldn't the train be safer," Fluttershy meekly uttered.
"Oh, come on Fluttershy," Rainbow pulled her friend into the circle with the others.
"OK," Twilight said, her magic intensifying, "here we go."
The magic seemed to be affecting the sphere, causing seven little circles, like craters, to form around its equator. Each crater soon shot out a beam of light of a different color, red, orange, green, blue, pink, purple, and white.
"Oooohhh, pretty," Pinkie whispered.
Within another moment, each of the beams of light intensified, and with a quick flash, the seven of them, along with the sphere itself, disappeared.
Canterlot Castle, Canterlot
"Are you sure they will be arriving soon," Palutena asked as she walked side-by-side with another creature, who looked much more like Twilight and her friends than she did Palutena.
"Of course I'm sure," the creature responded, giving her head a little toss in the process, "my little ponies are not to be taken lightly, least of all Twilight Sparkle and her friends."
"Look...princess," Pit spoke up, walking a few paces behind the other two, "we appreciate the help, but I'm not sure it's entirely necessary. I'm pretty sure I could whip Hades all over again like I did the first time."
"If I remember correctly," the one Pit had referred to as 'princess' responded, "you would have been up a creek without a paddle without the help of Palutena and others."
"Well...I..."
"Flustered again, are we Pit," Palutena chuckled, "one of these days, you'll learn when to keep your lips shut. We are in Princess Celestia's realm now, it would be unbecoming of us as guests to just wage war all over her land without her knowing about it."
Princess Celestia chuckled, her multi-color mane changing directions, though there was no wind playing on it.
A second later, a bright white light came from down the hall, which caused Celestia to perk her ears up.
"That should be them now."
Celestia, Palutena, and Pit picked up speed down the hall to check on the source of the flash. When they reached the room that the light emanated from, the found six ponies and a drake, all looking as if they had just gotten off the most nausea-inducing ride at the amusement park.
"Woah," Rainbow said, trying to steady herself, "that was trippy."
"Weee," Pinkie squealed, "let's do that again!"
"I told you the train would have been safer," Fluttershy squeaked, sitting on the floor, her hands laying over her flattened ears.
"Is my mane alright," Rarity asked to nopony in particular.
"Hello, my little ponies," Celestia greeted from just inside the doorway.
"Princess Celestia," Twilight greeted in return. All seven of them quickly bowed once they had become oriented properly again.
"It was good of you all to come here on such short notice."
"No problem, princess," Applejack responded, adjusting her hat, "now what did ya need us for? Your letter didn't exactly tell us much."
"I will answer that in due time. But first, I have two guests I would like to introduce to you all." Celestia stepped aside, allowing Pit and Palutena to enter the room. The seven Equestrians reacted with a mix of surprise and curiosity. "This is Lady Palutena and Sir Pit," she introduced, pointing to them in turn, "and they are the reason I summoned you."
"All that just to meet some new ponies," Rainbow questioned, "OK, whatever."
"Not whatever, Dashie," Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing forward to just within arms reach of the two newcomers, "Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! Hee-hee, Palutena, Pit, and Pinkie Pie, that sounds like the name of a sitcom."
Palutena laughed, Pit cocked his head. Palutena responded to his behavior by lightly tapping him on the crown of his head with her staff.
"Manners, Pit," she said.
"Uh, hello," he said, nodding his head, "I'm Pit, Palutena's most trusted Angel and the Captain of the Centurion Guard."
"Angel," the voice was Fluttershy's, barely audible even though nobody else was speaking.
"Uh, yeah, Angels are basically just supremely awesome demi-god warriors. I've saved the world at least three times."
"Supremely awesome, huh," Rainbow asked, flying the short distance up to Pit, "Now you're talking my language. And talk about saving the world, we must have done it, what," she pretended to do extensive mathematical figuring, "at least five times. Isn't that right, girls?"
"I hate to interrupt this little competition," Applejack got between Rainbow and Pit, "but, princess, are we gonna cut to the chase here anytime soon?"
"Well, actually, Applejack, they were on the right track," Celestia said, "because the world does indeed need saving, and it's going to take all of our combined powers to do it." This got everybody's attention. "Will you all follow me, please?"
Celestia led her ever-growing entourage down another corridor to the main throne room. She and Palutena ascended a few of the steps leading to the actual thrones, but neither sat down. The other eight bodies waited patiently to see what their respective goddesses had in store.
"A great threat has caused our individual dimensions to be crossed," Palutena explained, gesturing with her free hand, "the dark lord, Hades, the most dangerous being in my dimension, has somehow made it into Equestria, and he must be stopped, post-haste."
"As such," Celestia continued, "we are entrusting the fate of both our worlds in your hands. You must be our battle-hardened troops on the ground whilst Palutena, Spike, and I coordinate our efforts and figure out how to banish Hades back to his true dimension."
The mention of his name caused Spike's expression to change to one of confusion, "Me, princess?"
"Yes Spike. We will need to utilize your communication abilities."
"Yes, princess," Spike saluted, ever loyal.
"As for the rest of you," Palutena said, "Hades and the army which he may be controlling will not be easy to handle. He will not be as susceptible to your various magical abilities as some of your other enemies. As such, I have brought a special gift or two for each of you, going on what information Celestia provided me.
Palutena waved her staff in front of her and a large black granite table appeared. It bore various pieces of equipment, almost all of them in familiar colors. "Each of these weapons before you are your connection between your own powers of Harmony and a god from our world.
Palutena pointed her staff, the orb of which was glowing, toward the table. Slowly, each of the pieces rose and floated toward the pony that was to be its owner.
"First, Princess Twilight Sparkle, the studious Element of Magic. You will wield the Blade of Athena, the goddess of Wisdom, and the Medusa Mirror. The sword is not only able to be used as a simple striking weapon, but can also fire magic from its tip. And the mirror can deflect any projectile, solid, magic, or otherwise.
As the sword and shield floated in front of Twilight, she could see a video of herself, almost like a movie picture, wielding the weapons while wearing lavender, blue, and white armor, a simple breastplate with her cutie mark emblazoned on it, and a kind of armored skirt, the ensemble completed with a pair of armor leggings.
"Next, Rarity, the lovely Element of Generosity. I bestow upon you the Staff of Aphrodite, goddess of Love and Beauty. Like the Blade of Athena, it can be used for striking and magical attacks.
Rarity now saw a similar video of her using the staff, which was mostly white with a large purple gem on top. She was dressed in a flowing outfit not unlike Palutena's dress, though it was violet and held in place on the right shoulder by a diamond-shaped brooch.
"Rainbow Dash, the atheltic Element of Loyalty. I have two gifts for you as well. Firstly, the aptly-named Pegasus Boots, allowing you to move as fast on the ground as you can through the air. Secondly, I bestow upon you the Orbiters of Hermes, god of Speed.
Rainbow was entranced and more than a little excited at the movie of her weapons, which showed her running at the speed of sound while firing blasts from the dual red orbiters, which revolved around her body, leaving her limbs free. She wore a basic red tunic, not unlike Pit's attire, though it came to a stop at about the mid-thigh.
"Fluttershy, the quiet Element of Kindness. I want you to have the Bow of Artmeis, goddess of wild animals.
Fluttershy, in contrast to the others, was frightened by what she saw. Though she had to admit that the bow, which was made of pink wood entwined by healthy green vines, was very beautiful, the idea of her using such a thing made her want to cry. She wore a flowing pink dress which came to her knees with a slit moving up the right hem to her hip. The dress was also strapless, which allowed her arms complete freedom of movement for pulling the bowstring.
"Applejack, the hard-working Element of Honest. I give to you the Arm of Hephaestus, the god of Metalwork.
Applejack had to doff her hat at the scene that was unfolding in front of her eyes. She was wearing a full suit of orange and red battle armor, though still topped with her hat. All the while, she was swinging the weapon, which looked like an over-sized add-on to her normal right arm, at all kinds of attackers. Though the weapon was probably heavy, it didn't seem to weigh anything in AJ's strong limbs.
"Pinkie Pie, the smiling Element of Laughter. Celestia made a special request that I give you the Cannon of Dionysus, the god of Parties.
Pinkie Pie couldn't have wiped the smile off her face if she wanted to. She saw herself, dressed in a blue, thigh-length tunic, running about, firing salvo after salvo of who-knows-what out of her bright blue cannon, laughing the entire time.
"I hope that you find my choices for you satisfactory," Palutena concluded, "and I hope that you use them well in your battle against Hades."
The girls all snapped out of their individual theater viewing at the same time. They found themselves now holding their new weapons and wearing the very garb which they had been looking at themselves wear just a second earlier.
"This...is...awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed, having to fight the urge to give the Pegasus Boots a test-run.
"This is going to take some getting used to," Twilight said, trying to figure out the best way to hold the sword and shield. Good thing her brother was in the Royal Guard and she had picked up more than her fair share of pointers.
"Oh my, this is simply stunning," Rarity beamed like a schoolfilly, twirling a few times in her dress to get used to the feel, "Splendid seamstresship."
"Oh....my," was all that Fluttershy could utter. Part of her wanted to drop the bow and run away, but she couldn't muster the nerves. She also noticed something she hadn't before: a quiver full of arrows, the strap holding it onto her cutting diagonally across her chest, splitting her ample bust in two.
"Pretty powerful," Applejack commented, throwing a few test punches and uppercuts with her weapon, "This thing could easily break one of the trees on the farm by accident."
Pinkie, meanwhile, was trying to contain her excitement, but it was not to be. After a few seconds, she exploded into the air, literally jettisoning fireworks as she went. She landed right in front of Palutena on the stairs and gave her a big hug. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! You got me a brand-new party cannon! This calls for a party!" She was about to pull the trigger on the cannon, but Palutena fortunately stopped her.
"Hey dude," Rainbow turned her attention to Pit, "where is yours?"
Pit simply smiled, "Right here," He clapped his hands together, and when he pulled them apart, he was suddenly holding a golden bow in his right hand.
"Is that it," asked the prismatic pegasus.
Without saying a word, Pit grabbed the bow by the middle and pulled it apart, revealing that the end of the bow could function as dual blades. He shot Rainbow a cocky look.
"Now that my gifts have been bestowed upon all of you," Palutena continued, Pinkie still by her side, "I believe Celestia has a gift of her own."
Celestia gave a sideways glance at Palutena before speaking, "Yes, I will give to all of you the necessary power to access these weapons whenever you so choose." Her horn glowed with a golden light, a similar light enveloping all the ponies and Pit. When it subsided, they were all back in their normal clothes, but now sported necklaces around their necks. Each of the necklaces were made of superlight, yet superstrong, twine and ended with a crystal which was, in color and shape, not unlike their old Elements of Harmony. Pit also had one, though the white crystal on his was in the shape of a single wing.
Rainbow noticed this strange symbol, "Why a wing? You don't even have them."
"You'll see soon enough," Pit said, smirking so far that his cheek threatened to break off his face.
"So, princess, is there anything special needed to use these," Twilight asked.
"Oh, yes," Celestia promptly answered, "you will find that the crystals detach from the necklaces with a slight tug. When you want to summon your armor and weapons, simply hold the crystal in one of your fists and say the words 'By the power of the Sun' and they will materialize."
Pinkie, never one to let any kind of magic she could get her hooves on go unused, immediately tugged the balloon-shaped blue crystal off her neck and held it in her outstretched right fist, "Like this? By the power of the Sun!" In a flash of blue light, she was once again decked out in her tunic, holding her cannon, a wide smile plastered on her muzzle.
"Yes, Pinkie, exactly like that," Celestia calmly said, smiling slightly.
"Now," Palutena said, "I believe Celestia told me of a perfect place where you could all test your weapons in real time. What did you call it again?"
"The Everfree Forest."
"Oh yes, that."
The six ponies and one drake looked at the two goddesses with a mixture of emotions. Rainbow, AJ, and Pinkie bounced on their hooves in anticipation. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike seemed to feel much more trepidation. Twilight, meanwhile, just stood there with a blank look on her face. These mixed reactions were not lost on Pit.
"Um, what is the Everfree Forest?"
"Oh, it's nothing special," Pinkie explained, doing a bad job of covering her white lie, "It's just the most dangerous, most scary, most unusual place in all of Equestria."
"Oh."
"Yes," Celestia said, "it can be dangerous. But you all will need some practice before you take on Hades. Please trust me."
"No problem princess," Rainbow beamed, still bouncing like a prizefighter, "with these new duds, nothing in that forest can touch us."
"Well, what are we waiting for," Pit said, "let's move out!"
With a nod, Celestia's horn glowed golden again. It soon enveloped the ponies and Angel, and in the blink of an eye, they were gone.
"Be safe guys," Spike whispered.
