Chapter 1 - Return of Hades
A door opened in the sky above a lush green field. On the edge of the door stood an angel, his white robes flowing in the light breeze that the day gave. He scratched his brown hair with a nervous touch and straightened his golden wreath. His wings flapped twice as he tested how strong the wind was and found it was just a blow of air. He took a deep breath and jumped down from the door, which disappeared as his feet left the surface. He braced himself and began to flap his wings slowly, then increased the rate at which he flapped them. At first he was falling vertically but now he glided horizontally and opened his eyes, then smiled.
"Palutena! Can you see this? I'm flying on my own!" he exclaimed.
"Very well done, Pit. For one of your first tries, I'm very proud of you!" a female voice praised from the heavens.
Pit turned around a few times getting used to flying without the Goddess of Light's power. Before, Palutena would use her godly powers to control Pit's wings and flight path as he could not fly on his own, much to his disappointment, but in recent years and after a wild adventure, Pit had learned to fly without Palutena's gift.
"This is amazing! I didn't think flying would be this easy!" Pit commented, but then lost track of his flying and seemed to trip in the sky, but then get back up. "Simple mistake."
"Are you sure you don't want any help, Pit? I do kind of miss helping you fly," Palutena sighed.
"I think I'm okay for now, Lady Palutena; look! My wings don't have those ugly blue and orange glows!"
"It was I who made your wings glow like that..."
"Oh...well I didn't mean that, honest! They were pretty cool!" Pit suddenly said, trying to put on a convincing smile.
"So that means you do want me to help you right?" Palutena asked happily.
"Um...no," Pit admitted.
In the midst of an awkward silence, Pit noticed something in the distance and flew on the spot, squinting to see what it was.
"Lady Palutena...is that..?"
The two gasped. A small pink ball with a singular large eye and small tentacles flew towards Pit.
"A Monoeye?" he finished.
"I don't understand. We defeated the Underworld Army," Palutena said.
Previously, Pit and Palutena with some help, had defeated the Lord of the Underworld Hades and his monster army and stopped them from destroying the world.
"But surely if the Underworld Army are here, Hades is back?" Pit wondered.
"Pit, you must go back at once," Palutena's voice emitted.
A light from the very highest reaches of the skies enveloped Pit and he began to fly upwards, but the light was suddenly shut off and a deeper, more masculine voice spoke.
"Now, what would be the fun in running away?" it laughed.
"Hades! How dare you come back, I thought we defeated you!" Pit shouted.
"You thought right for a while, but alas, I decided to come back rather quickly. Being gone is rather boring after all."
"You must have some short attention span to come back this quickly," Palutena mocked.
"Oh, my dear Palutena, I do miss your jokes. I found them quite funny, to be honest," Hades replied.
"Enough talk, Hades. Where are you?" Pit asked.
"Oh be quiet, Pitty. We were about to have a nice catch-up," Hades boomed, his figure now appearing in the sky.
What appeared was a large purple man with a very bulky build. He wore purple and orange robes to match his skin and his claws extended very far. His green and red hair moved viciously in the dark gale that he had whipped up, but most menacing of all was the not at all innocent smile that sat upon his face.
"So, would you like to hear my new plan for world domination?" Hades asked.
"Why would you tell us?" Pit volleyed a question.
"You've had a crush before, right, Pit? It's just like that. You just know you shouldn't really tell anyone but you can't help it and who better to tell than your best friends," he mocked.
Pit blushed, then shook it off and reached for a weapon, but he had none with him.
"Lady Palutena! I didn't bring a weapon!" he panicked.
"There would be no need, Pit. Hades before you is just a ghostly image, not the real thing. You're under no threat," her soothing voice emanated.
"Oh, I do think there would be quite a threat. But please, I must tell you my genius plan!" Hades begged.
"What's with this guy?" Pit muttered to Palutena.
"The Goddess of Light isn't the only God who can hear and see your every word and movement, you know," laughed Hades.
"Just spit it out, Hades. What's your plan?" Palutena asked.
"I was hoping you'd never ask. Do tell; have you ever heard of the tale of Discord?" asked Hades.
Palutena now showed herself suddenly. Her long flowing green hair also blew violently in the wind and her golden scepter, which scaled her entire body, and her large crystal shield shone against the sun.
"What of it?" she asked.
"I'm going to revive him!" Hades laughed, his blunt statement echoing in Palutena's head.
He disappeared quickly and behind his image was an army of hundreds of Monoeye. Pit flew backwards slightly.
"Lady Palutena, get me out of here!" he cried.
"I'm trying! The heavens wont open!" she explained, waving her scepter around.
She then managed to create a flash of light from which came a small golden bow which flew to Pit's hands.
"Take this, Pit. You're going to have to fly up here yourself," she said.
"A Light Bow? But this is like the weakest weapon ever!" he whined.
"Pit! Do as I say! That was the best I could do right now. My magic has been weakened somehow." Palutena boomed.
"Sorry, Lady Palutena," Pit said, flying quickly upwards.
Pit quickly grew tired and had not covered much distance. He began to fall.
"Lady Palutena, remember how you said you missed helping me fly..." he sighed.
His wings began to glow a shiny blue colour and he zoomed upwards, firing arrows of light from his bow with an impressive amount per second.
"Okay, Pit, you're reaching Skyworld. Hang on!" Palutena shouted.
"Hang on?" Pit muttered, his wings then turning orange as he shot up as an amazing speed and screamed at the velocity.
***
Hours later, Pit was soaking in a hot spring and letting his wings relax. He sighed happily, glad to be away from the Underworld Army for now.
"Pit!" Palutena's voice suddenly spoke.
Pit jumped and looked around, but Palutena was not there. Luckily he was wearing clothes in the spring.
"What is it, Lady Palutena?" he asked.
"Come quickly, you need to help," she said with a tone of terror.
Pit ran out of the hot spring room and towards a locked door. He clicked his fingers and it opened and before him was a huge room with weapons on shelves. He grabbed the nearest to him, a Cannon weapon, it was grey with purple lines flowing around it; The Doom Cannon.
Pit approached the door of a large shiny hallway and jumped out to a vast, grey wasteland. He fell and was in too much shock to try and fly.
"Palutena! Some help would be much appreciated!" he yelled over the sound of the wind rushing past him.
"Oh, so you're not that good at flying on your own?" she taunted.
"No! Just help me!" Pit cried.
His wings burst into a blue aura and he lifted up. Pit readied his Doom Cannon as he began to fly vertically. Detecting enemies, he began to shoot purple orbs at Monoeyes; they burst into hearts which were quickly collected as they touched Pit.
"What's the problem, Lady Palutena?" Pit asked.
"Hades' plan has come into action," Palutena sighed.
"Plan? You mean the one about that 'Discord' myth?"
"Yes. And it's no myth, either. The tale of the draconequus Discord is a true story; I shall have to tell you of it another time, but for now, beat those Underworld forces!"
"Right!" Pit said, unleashing a charged shot from his cannon.
The purple orb began to expand as it impacted with a Monoeye and destroyed several others who dared to enter its deadly space. Hearts shot towards Pit in large amounts.
"Just like old times!" Pit cheered.
"Don't be too happy, the Monoeye aren't the only enemies showing up," Palutena noted.
Just as she said this, a green flying ball with a large mouth approached. Pit simply destroyed this.
"Are you sure about that? This is a cakewalk!" Pit exclaimed.
"It would seem that the cake has yet to be a lie," Hades' voice boomed.
"Hades!" Pit shouted.
"Pit!" Hades returned.
"Hades!"
"Pit!"
"Hades!"
"Enough, you two!" Palutena commanded.
"I wish you wouldn't interrupt, Goddess of Light, this is a nice little routine that Pitty and I perform every time we meet," Hades laughed.
"Where is Discord? How did you get him to our world?" Palutena asked, ignoring whatever else Hades had to say.
"Surely you have not forgotten that us gods can transverse between worlds?" Hades noted.
"That's something I would have overlooked," Pit admitted.
"I haven't forgotten. In fact, I used that fact to my advantage," Palutena giggled.
"What's with the laugh?" Pit and Hades asked.
"I am!" another female voice boomed.
Pit looked beside him to see something simply amazing. Not something; somepony.
"Is that...a unicorn? And a pegasus? In one?!" Pit gasped.
"Indeed!" Palutena exclaimed.
The equestrian creature galloped in the air beside him. She was white and glowing in the darkness of this area, her green, blue and pink mane and tail flowing quickly behind her as she looked towards Pit and smiled.
"Who are you?" Pit asked.
"I am Princess Celestia; Goddess of the Sun from the land of Equestria." she introduced.
"Sorry. Never heard of you," Pit said, looking at her curiously.
"That's because she's not of this world," Hades snorted.
Celestia looked ahead and her expression became serious.
"Hades," she whispered.
"The one and only," the demon laughed.
"Where is Discord?" Celestia and Palutena both asked.
"I have him right here with me, don't you worry your little selves," Hades said, "but I'm afraid he's still in his cruel, cold stone prison."
"At least we have some time to stop him." Celestia noted.
"Oh no you don't. I've nearly freed the poor soul," Hades mocked.
"Not if I have anything to say about it! Pit, brace yourself!" Palutena ordered.
Pit readied himself and his wings' aura changed from blue to orange as he flew further even faster alongside Celestia who, as well as Pit, was blasting away at Underworld troops with magic beams shot from her horn.
"For a magical horse...that's pretty cool," Pit noted.
"Thank you. I get that a lot from human-like creatures," Celestia smiled.
"Pit, Celestia, Hades' castle is just ahead. Prepare for land battle." Palutena said.
"Right!" the two replied.
"Oh, I don't want you insects coming anywhere near my castle," Hades sneered.
"As if that's going to stop us! Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words never will!" Pit chanted.
"In that case..." Hades laughed.
A large rock hurtled towards Pit and shocked him too much for him to try and avoid it. Celestia shattered it with a blast from her horn.
"Thanks, Princess," Pit praised.
"No problem," the alicorn laughed.
A large, ruined castle appeared over a large hill, surrounded by thousands of Hades' Underworld pawns who swarmed around it like bees and a honeycomb.
"That's...a lot of enemies," Pit gulped.
Then, they all turned around at once, staring at Pit and Celestia.
"They're not going to..." Celestia whispered in terror.
"CHARGE!" Hades commanded.
"Pit! Come back immediately!" Palutena shouted, returning Pit to Skyworld in a bright spotlight.
Celestia followed and the army stopped in their tracks, then returned to the castle.
***
Pit stood in the middle of a large hall silently, reflecting upon what he had just seen.
"Hades is back," Palutena said, standing the same size as Pit in front of him.
"And he's almost revived Discord," Celestia added.
"And I'm the angel to stop him?" Pit sighed.
"Indeed you are, but you will need help." Celestia said teasingly.
"Hey! I took Hades on my own before!" Pit rebutted.
"Yes, but Discord is almost as bad as he," Palutena explained.
"Which is why I have some saviours from my world to stop him with you." Celestia smiled.
A door behind Pit opened and he turned around. From behind it came three more horse-like creatures; a unicorn and two pegasi. The unicorn was purple with darker purple hair and a star on her flank. One of the pegasi was blue with rainbow coloured hair and a rainbow lightning bolt on her flank. Finally, the other pegasus was yellow with pink hair and butterflies on her flank.
"Ponies?!" Pit exclaimed.
"Got a problem with that?" the rainbow pegasus asked.
"Talking ponies?" Pit sighed, "this seems like something from a little girl's cartoon."
"Sorry to disappoint you..." the yellow pegasus whimpered.
"Aww! That was actually kind of cute," Pit blushed.
"You're gonna have to get used to that," the unicorn laughed.
Celestia stepped forward and next to the three ponies.
"Pit, I would like you to meet your teammates for this quest. The unicorn is named Twilight Sparkle. The blue pegasus is Rainbow Dash and the yellow one is Fluttershy." Celestia introduced.
"Nice to meet you...talking horses," Pit stuttered.
"Likewise, Pit was it?" Twilight Sparkle said, shaking Pit's hand with her hoof.
"Let's beat up the bad guys so we can get home," Rainbow Dash sighed.
"I don't really want to hurt anypony...this evil business sounds mean and scary," Fluttershy cried.
"This is going to be interesting..." Palutena thought.
Chapter 2 - Building an Alliance
The next day Pit and the ponies assembled in the hallway to receive the latest information of Hades' plans. Neither Palutena nor Celestia were there, however their voices echoed around the empty space of the hall.
"I bring good news. Discord has not yet been freed," Celestia informed.
The ponies let out a relieved sigh, from which Pit lately followed.
"And there's bad news too, right?" Pit asked.
There was silence for a moment, then Palutena's voice emanated, "you're going to try and stop him again."
"Lady Palutena! You saw his castle last time!" Pit argued, clenching his fist and stepping forward.
"Pit. Have faith," Celestia said.
Pit settled down. Twilight Sparkle walked forward to a dish at the center of the room and looked inside.
"This is the castle?" she asked, looking at the image of Hades' castle shown in the water.
The other ponies trotted over to the dish and looked inside for themselves. Fluttershy flinched at the sight of the castle.
"It looks so spooky," she quietly commented.
"Nothing I can't handle. Let me at 'em!" Rainbow Dash laughed.
"Do you guys always take turns to talk?" Pit asked mockingly.
"What'd he say?" Rainbow Dash grunted.
"Nothing!" Pit quirked.
"Celestia and I have faith that you four shall overcome the castle together," Palutena explained.
"But I'm afraid for now Twilight cannot go." Celestia finished.
Twilight's pupils dilated and she took a step back. A tear formed in the corner of her eye, which she shook off.
"Why not?" she asked.
Celestia shot down from a hole in the ceiling; the room was much like the Pantheon in Rome. She walked up to Twilight and stroked her head to comfort her.
"You're not ready yet," she said.
"What do you mean?" Twilight replied.
"You'll see in due time," Celestia giggled, "now, Pit, I need you to grab a weapon. I'll prepare Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash."
"Aye aye, Princess," Pit saluted.
Pit walked off to choose a weapon. When she was sure he was gone, Fluttershy burst into tears and ran to the end of the hall.
"I..I don't want to fight..." she sniffed.
"Fluttershy. You're going to have to..." Celestia sighed.
"B-but the m-monsters are too scary,"
Celestia sighed and looked at Rainbow Dash, who shrugged. She then turned back to Fluttershy and rubbed her head against her neck to console her.
"Do you want to stay back here, Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy was silent for a moment to think what could happen if she replied. She did so quietly, "yes."
Celestia laughed and stood upright, then looked at Twilight, "Twilight, I need you and Fluttershy to watch over Pit and Rainbow Dash from that bowl. If you see anything serious, talk to Palutena and I right away."
"Yes, Princess!" the two said.
Rainbow Dash grinned and started to bounce in circles around Celestia with her wings open.
"And what do I do? What do I do?" she asked.
Celestia laughed, "Rainbow Dash, you will be fighting with Pit."
"Awesome," Rainbow Dash gasped, "but what will I fight with?"
The light coming through the hole in the ceiling became brighter and a brown vest floated down softly. Rainbow ran up to it before it hit the ground and jumped up to wear it in the air.
"I'm fighting with a vest?" she said unenthusiastically.
"Not quite. Rainbow Dash, flap your wings," Celestia said.
Rainbow slowly brought her wings down. As she rose them back up, two small silver cannons moved out of her sides and faced the same direction as her.
"That is so cool!" she exclaimed, "how do I fire?"
"Don't tell her until she's flying, Celestia!" Palutena ordered.
Celestia walked to the circle on the floor with Rainbow Dash, "sorry, guess you'll just have to wait."
She then flew upwards and disappeared at the top. Pit came running through and stopped before Rainbow Dash.
"Nice weapon-vest," he complimented.
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened and she panicked, "Pit, your arm is on fire!"
Pit looked to his right arm and laughed, "this is my weapon, the Burning Arm. It's just a sleeve, Rainbow Dash."
"Are you two ready to go?" Palutena asked, opening a door.
"No. I don't want to face all those enemies," Pit sighed.
Rainbow Dash snickered and pushed Pit out of the door, "out you go, scaredy cat!"
Palutena quickly granted Pit the power of flight whilst giggling. Rainbow jumped out of the doorway, only to fall far behind Pit when she started flying.
"Aw what gives? He's way faster than me!" she complained.
Her wings began to glow orange and she suddenly sped up. Her gums were forced up by the g-force but she eventually got over it and caught up to Pit.
"How am I going so fast?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"That'd be the power of flight," Pit explained, "but I don't know how Palutena is giving it to two at once."
"She's not," Celestia's voice laughed.
"Thanks, Princess Celestia!" cheered Rainbow Dash.
The two flew a few miles but didn't encounter any enemies.
"Now I'm worried," Pit said.
"Oh, don't be worried! Now you're getting me worried!" Fluttershy's voice said.
"It's alright, Fluttershy. We can see all around them. There's nothing th-HUH?" Twilight's voice gasped loudly.
"What is it?" Rainbow asked, then screamed.
A Monoeye was coming straight for her. She waved her hooves down and closed her eyes in fear and felt a vibration, then heard two loud bangs. She looked again and some small hearts disappeared on her face.
"Nice shooting, Rainbow Dash. For a second there, I thought you were flailing," Pit laughed.
"Uh...sure," Rainbow Dash gasped, mouth agape.
She waved her hooves down again and the cannons shot two black missiles. She smiled.
More underworld troops flew towards the two and tried to attack, but Rainbow Dash had adapted quickly and was shooting them down like nobody's business.
"Nice work, Rainbow Dash! Now see how a captain of guards does it!" Pit boasted.
Twilight snickered audibly from Skyworld, but Pit ignored this and send blasts of fire from his hands at Monoeyes, slowly burning them until they exploded into hearts. More and more appeared, causing Pit and Rainbow Dash to weave around one another tactically to destroy them.
"That's the last of them!" Twilight said.
"Well done guys!" Fluttershy cheered.
"Alright! Let's defeat Hades!" Rainbow Dash said enthusiastically.
"Not quite yet," Celestia laughed.
"We're nowhere near prepared to fight all those enemies outside his castle," Palutena explained.
"What about the Great Sacred Treasure?" Pit asked.
Palutena fell silent, then quickly continued talking, "we're going to an old friend for assistance. In fact, we're here. Prepare to land."
"Yes 'mam!" the two acknowledged.
They swooped down and shot straight through a dark hole, still under the power of flight. They traveled through the hole and exited to a flash of pink. The first thing they saw was pink thorny vines spreading around the huge space they had entered.
"I know where we are!" Pit exclaimed gleefully.
"Where would that be?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"It's like Lady Palutena said; 'we're going to an old friend'," he mimicked her voice badly.
A large green platform rose upwards, which Pit and Rainbow Dash landed on and let their wings relax. Before them was a large hallway blooming with flowers, trees and many other plants. At the end was an empty throne.
"Is she not in?" Pit asked, looking at the throne.
"Of course I'm in!" a very young sounding voice boomed happily.
Pit smiled at the sound of this voice, "Viridi!"
"Hello, Pit. How come you never came to visit these past years?" Viridi replied huffily.
"Um...I didn't have the time?" he replied nervously.
"Figures. You've left me bored."
"Viridi, we've come to discuss important matters with you," Palutena proclaimed.
"Yes, yes, I know what you're here for; but I'm afraid he's not in." Viridi explained vaguely.
"Who?" Pit asked.
"Well we need to speak to you anyway," Celestia said.
"Who's not in?" Pit asked again.
"What? Princess Celestia? Never thought I'd see you again," Viridi laughed sarcastically.
"WHO WERE YOU JUST TALKING ABOUT?" Pit asked angrily.
"Quiet, Pit. The big gods are talking," Palutena commanded.
"But mo-...Lady Palutena!"
"Quiet! Now, Viridi, you must know of Hades' return and his plans?" Palutena asked.
"Yes and I don't agree with him. He's going to mess up nature and I won't stand for it!" she replied.
"Who is this Viridi person, Pit? I can't see her," Rainbow whispered.
"She's the Goddess of Nature. Naturally, she can speak without being seen like the other gods," he replied quietly.
"You guys have left me for so long that I got bored. I don't want to speak to you, really." sighed Viridi.
"What a child!" Twilight's voice mumbled.
"Unless you play a few games with me!" Viridi boomed.
The wall where the throne stood began to lower itself through the floor and revealed a pitch black entrance labeled with neon signs (covered in overgrowth, naturally) pointing towards it saying 'maze'.
"Meet me at the end of this maze and I'll speak to you!" Viridi teased.
"Wow. Some of the people in this universe," Rainbow Dash sighed.
"You get used to it after a while," reassured Pit.
"What are you to waiting for? This will be fun to watch!" Fluttershy exclaimed playfully.
Pit and Rainbow Dash smiled and slowly walked towards the entrance to Viridi's maze.
