My Little Pony Champions of Justice

"AHHH!!!" Button mash screamed as he darted through the trees. The creature gaining on him with every step. As he darted through the foliage, the young colt turned around to see a pair of yellow eyes closing in on him. These eyes were accompanied by a low snarl, as the creature’s snout began to peak through the brush.

"AAHHH! SOMEPONY HELP MEEE!!" Button had made his way to a small clearing, hoping he had escaped the beast. As it turned out, he was wrong. For a large Cragadile came smashing through the trees, drooling with hunger. Tired from running, Button collapsed to the ground as the cragadile drew closer and closer. Button gave off only one whimper just before he heard the sound of a magic blast. It was Blueblood!

"Get away from him you brute!" The prince shouted before firing off a few more shots. Moonshy and Flash swooped in to distract the beast while Valiant grabbed Button. Needless to say, the young colt was thankful as he looked up to see the black unicorn set him down next to his friends. Once button was safe, Valiant rejoined the fight. Having more experience in combat training, Flash swooped down to bash the beast on the head each time there was an opening. Blueblood continued his relentless barrage of magic missiles.

"DRIVE HIM BACK!!" Valiant shouted as he quickly joined Blueblood in the attack. The beast proved to be quite stubborn as it turned around to unleash a swipe of its tail. Turning around with the momentum of its tail, the cragadile tried to chomp Flash and Moonshy out of the air. While the other three were worried, Valiant seemed to actually be excited from the event, as he charged straight ahead. Leaping onto the beast’s head He initiated grapple.

"OH HOO! HE'S A FIGHTER THIS ONE!!" The unicorn shouted in excitement as the beast rolled around the dirt, hoping to throw him off; but Valiant held his grip even as they rolled into the trees. The others decided to stay behind in case something went wrong, also. The fact that their friend was thrilled by a life or death situation seemed to scare them.

HISS!!

YAAH!!! CLANG!! WHAM!!

Though they were unable to see the battle, the group could still hear the excitement going on beneath the trees. Some of them rustled from the cragadile’s charging followed by a few flashes of crimson light from Valiant’s horn. Before long, a loud roar was herd; followed by a few trees toppling over in a direction away from the clearing. Valiant came trotting out. His mane was a complete mess, and his armor was dented up and scratched. He did however get one souvenir. One of the beast’s fangs.

"Oh Wow!" Rumble shouted as he ran over with Pipsqueak to see the tooth. They didn’t get a chance to however, because Valiant brushed past them to check on Button. One look was all he needed to see that his apprentice was not hurt, save for a few scrapes and bruises.

"That was some fancy hoofwork out there Button."

"Eh heh. I did a lot of running back in manehattan." From that statement, Valiant could tell Button was referring to the days he was bullied back in the big city. As always though, he chose not to pry into another’s personal life so he placed a few bandages on him. Once the drama had settled all could see that each apprentice had made it through the night, some better than others. Pipsqueak was covered from head to hoof in mud and twigs, Rumble looked like he had stayed up the entire night and of course Button was almost eaten, but nonetheless all had passed with flying colors.

"Alright! Let's head back to Ponyville and celebrate!" Flash said, feeling proud. They cheered on through the sunrise as they headed back to where they came.

After a long hike through the woods, the group came up to a hill overlooking the town. Despite the long journey Button, Rumble and Pipsqueak barely felt any fatigue. Blueblood however was still getting used to running long distances, once at the top of the hill they expected to see their town as they left it. What they saw horrified them instead.

"Sweet Celestia...."

Ponyville was in flames. Even from a distance the ponies could hear the townsfolk screaming in terror as they ran from the burning buildings. Seeing this reminded Valiant of the horrors he had witnessed, when he and his comrades were forced to burn the city of Stratholme… and now, those same horrors found their way here. Sweat began to pour from his brow and his body started to tremble with Moonshy taking notice.

"Mom....MOM!!" Buttons cry of terror snapped him out of it as the young colt dropped his bags, darting for the burning town.

"BUTTON STOP!!" Valiant called out to his apprentice, but the intense fear drove Button to ignore his master for fear of losing his mother. The others raced after him, weaving their way through the burning debris when out of the corner of his eye Rumble spotted Buttons mom; Love Tap.

"Button!? Button sweetheart! Answer me!!" The mare called out for her child, fearing he may have returned during the attack. When she noticed Rumble and Pipsqueak running towards her, all hopes of that being false went sour.

"Miss Love Tap!!"

"Boys! Have you seen Button!? I can't find him anywhere!"

"He went home to look for you!"

"Oh no..." Love Taps face grew cold just before she darted off.

Meanwhile. Valiant, along with Flash, Blueblood and Moonshy began scouring the town in search of any citizens trapped in the blaze. Flash kept vigil from above with Moonshy as they told everypony to make for Twilights castle, while Valiant and Blueblood used their magic to clear away any debris blocking the streets.

"VALIANT! VALIANT!"

"Boys! What's going on?"

"It's Button Mash! He's trapped!!"

Not needing any further explanation, the ponies raced towards Button’s house to see Love Tap standing helplessly. Her son was trapped inside a burning building!

"HELP! SOMEPONY! HELP US!!" The mare called out as Valiant and Blueblood burst onto the scene.

"On three!! Ready!? THREE!!" The two unicorns smashed down the door while Flash and Moonshy swooped down, pouring buckets of water to douse the flames. The intense heat and smoke made it difficult for both unicorns to breathe as they called out for Button. They kept an eye out for falling debris as few minutes had passed. After what felt to them like ages, they had finally found the young colt passed out and clinging to something for dear life.

"BUTTON!!" Valiant called out to him as he plucked him off the ground.

"I'm here Button! I'm here!"

"Let's go!!" Blueblood shouted, quickly leading them out just as the structure began to give way. Once outside Valiant quickly laid Button on the ground, as a huge crowd of ponies began to gather.

"Get back!! Everypony get back! Give him some air!" Flash shouted out as he and Moonshy ushered the crowd back. It wasn’t until minutes later that they saw Doctor Horse and Nurse Red Heart push their way through.

"Let me through! I'm a doctor!" The caramel colored unicorn shouted as he placed his bag next to Button, while Red Heart handed him his stethoscope.

"Hmm....He'll be alright miss Love Tap. He’s Just under a minor heat stroke. Give him some water and He’ll be fine."

"Oh thank goodness." The mare sighed with relief, stroking her son’s forehead before they carried him off in a stretcher. Twilight and her friends had arrived shortly after Button was taken to the hospital and were relieved to see Valiant and the others unharmed.

"Twilight… what in Equestria happened?"

"I'm not sure...these creatures came swarming out of the forest! At first there were ten and then....hundred’s! I've never seen anything like them! They had no eyes and the- they were covered in spikes!"

"Wait! Did they have these like, tentacles… on their backs?"

"Yes!"

"Fel hounds...."

From the sound of his voice, Twilight could tell Valiant had encountered these creatures before. Once everypony was gathered and provided for, Twilight and her friends joined Valiant’s group to pick up the trail of the beasts. Going through the now smoking ruins of Ponyville, they soon found a set of tracks leading straight into the Everfree Forest. Upon analysis, Valiant recognized what was going on here. The fel hounds were baiting them. Going into the forest… is just what they wanted them to do. He ordered his party to halt.

"This is as far as we go."

"Are you kidding!? We’re going to go in there and-!?"

"And risk getting picked off one by one as they rip our guts out for dinner? I don’t think so." Valiant said, interrupting Rainbow Dash as she gave a rather nervous gulp. For a while he stood there, pondering the next move. He remembered that Fel Hounds fed off magic and bit by bit he formulated a plan. Bait them instead, turn their game against them. That way, the odds would be in the favor of the ponies, not the demons.

"Twilight. Gather every unicorn into the town hall. If we can't go after the beasts then we'll make them come after us. Send a letter to Celestia...were gonna need some backup." He said with a grin of anticipation.

Twilight did as Valiant instructed and gathered all the Unicorns to town hall, while the rest of the townsfolk took shelter in the castle now protected by a magic barrier. As night fell on the town, Valiant stood watch, along with a few of the royal guards. In the castle, Blueblood moved the citizens to the basement with help from Flash while Moonshy stood topside, keeping an eye out on the forest as well as the sunset.

"So. What's the plan?" Moonshy asked after noticing the guards were keeping their weapons close.

"When they come we form a circle in the center of the room. Backs to one another."

"You mean… we’re going to- we’re going to Fight? But...I-I'm no warrior!"

"Come the next couple of hours. You will be." Valiant stated to the nervous pegasus; laying his helm onto the ground, using it like a pillow.

"Remember Moonshy: Fear profits a pony nothing."

Except maybe… life. But what’s life, when everypony you care about dies around you.

The End.